


Tie A Knife With A Ribbon

by blackcatbone



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Alternate Universe - Witches, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Drama, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Friendship, Gen, Hunk (Voltron) Has Two Moms, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, POV Multiple, Slice of Life, Team, Trigger Warning: Fire, gender non-conforming Holt siblings (Voltron), horror themes, past Matt Holt/Shiro (Voltron) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-15 14:04:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 51,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9238163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackcatbone/pseuds/blackcatbone
Summary: "Five witches working together, one dominant in each of the elements of magic - the Earth, the Water, the Forest," Hunk says, gesturing to each of them in turn, "the Fire and the Air - can form a circle of infinite power. Like, we'd be able to do anything."Hunk has finally got what he's always wanted - four friends with the necessary elements to form a full circle. But there's more to the circle's power than just magic. And the five of them are going to need more than just witchcraft to deal with the challenges ahead.





	1. Book and candle is natural to those pure and simple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that this is a work of fiction and any resemblance to real life or actual reality is purely coincidental.
> 
> 1) In this chapter, warnings for fire/things being set on fire, implied racism, mention of past domestic abuse.  
> 2) Thank you so much to [Chrissy Sky](http://archiveofourown.org/users/chrissy_sky) for beta-reading and generally being supportive (especially since this isn't her fandom).  
> 3) Keith is Korean-American in this story, regardless of what may or may not have been implied in canon.  
> 4) If you like the story, please let me know in the comments and if you can pick out a particular thing/part that you liked, even better.

Stepping out into his backyard, Hunk closes his eyes, breathes deep and revels in the feeling of soil beneath his bare feet. The sun above him is shining, bright and fresh after the morning's rain, and the ground beneath him feels full of potential. He really couldn't be happier.

"Do I need to leave you and those earthworms alone? Are you having a _private moment_?" Pidge teases, in response, no doubt, to the blissed out look that must be present on Hunk's face. He thinks her head must be _buzzing_ with all the _life_ surrounding them, but when he opens his eyes and glances down at her, she looks perfectly serene.

"I dunno, maybe he needs you to stick around and translate his _love poems_ ," Lance chimes in as he steps out of the house behind them. He lets his arms hang loose at his sides as he walks and the dew drops rise from the grass towards his fingers.

Hunk ignores the comments, carefully setting down the items he's carrying - a small clay model of a cat and a picnic blanket. He unrolls the blanket on the ground, unconcerned about the dampness of the grass. Pidge and Lance take their seats on the blanket, sitting cross-legged. Lance picks up the clay cat and strokes a hand down its back, gently gripping the tail before letting go.

"OK..." Hunk says as he sits down himself, positioned so he can see the other two and they're sitting in a tight triangle formation. He's a little nervous, though he thinks he really shouldn't be, but also excited. Lance places the cat in the middle of the three of them.

"Let's do this!" he says, clapping his hands together.

Pidge holds out her hands to them and Hunk takes hold of her right, and Lance's left, forming a closed circuit. They're all powerful witches in their own right, but together they have the potential to be so much more. Hunk believes that they were _meant_ to find each other.

Pidge is younger than him and Lance but skipped a grade, so that she ended up having classes with them this year. It left her isolated, with the kids her own age still stuck in the grade below and her new classmates not exactly thrilled at the possibility of having a youngster outshine them. So naturally she was wary when Hunk first approached her and started chatting about their Physics homework. He didn't know at the time that she was a witch too, but looking back he thinks that he was probably subconsciously drawn to her. Consciously, though, he was just happy at the prospect of having someone to talk to about school who didn't just dismiss it all as _boring_. Pidge's whole family are super smart and nerdy. But since her grandmother passed away, Pidge is now the only witch in the family. Her dominant element is the Forest, which means that she can communicate with plants and animals, and even control them sometimes. Anything green or wooden, living or breathing can be bent to her will.

Lance has been Hunk's best friend for as long as he can remember. His family, unlike Pidge's, is absolutely _teeming_ with witches. It was Lance's mom Isabella who first taught Hunk how to work with clay. She is Earth dominant just like him and showed him how he can manipulate the clay, almost without thinking, into any shape he desires. Hunk finds it incredibly relaxing, working with his hands and his powers simultaneously. His house is full of the little sculptures he's made, mostly animals, and assorted clay pots. Lance's dominant element is the Water, which means that he can keep the clay from drying out simply by handling it. And that is crucial when you want little clay limbs to be able to move. Hunk can make the clay move without directly touching it, _as though_ the animal is alive, but he can't actually bring it to life. Not on his own.

Now he breathes deep, focusing on the clay cat in their midst. He can feel the magic flowing between them, through their joined hands. It feels powerful, natural. _Alive_. A slight movement in the centre of the triangle catches his eye and Hunk holds his breath, as though his breathing might somehow jinx things.

_Please. Please. Please._

The cat moves its head - there is no mistaking it this time - and Hunk lets out a little gasp of excitement. The cat moves as though it's looking around, turning its head one way and then the other. Then it tries to walk, stretching out one paw in front of itself and placing it down on the blanket. The movements are incredibly stiff and awkward, but determined nonetheless.

"Ha!" Lance exclaims, squeezing Hunk's hand. "It worked!"

"Of course it worked," Pidge says, grinning broadly.

"Can we touch it?" Lance asks.

"How long will it last?" Hunk wants to know.

"Um, yes, _gently_. And I'm not actually sure," Pidge answers, her confident tone faltering just a little. "I guess we'll have to monitor it and see."

Lance lets go of their hands to reach for the cat. It seems momentarily startled by the movement, falling back into a sitting position. Lance pouts, but leaves his arms extended, hands open. Slowly, the cat stands again and then pads over to him. It leans forward, gingerly touching its nose to his fingertips. All three of them hold their breath, waiting to see what the little animal will do next. Then it lightly butts its head against the side of Lance's hand. Very carefully he strokes one finger over the top of its head. The cat responds by arching its shoulders and back into the movement, just like a real cat would.

"Good kitty," Lance murmurs softly to it. "Welcome to the world."

-

"Surely that would cause the building to _implode_ rather than explode," Pidge says, tilting her head to one side as she stares at the TV screen. She's sitting on Hunk's couch, with him seated on the floor in front of her, distractedly braiding his hair because she needs something to do with her hands and apparently typing on her laptop while they're watching a movie together is _rude_. She wishes Hunk's moms would just get a cat already. The clay cat is still going strong after a few weeks, but despite Pidge having given it _life_ , the traitorous creature still favours Lance as its human furniture/personal petter of choice.

"Hmm," Hunk hums in what sounds like agreement around a mouthful of popcorn. He's totally zoning out, still clutching a spell book in one hand that he'd probably rather be reading. But apparently that would _also_ be rude.

"Movie logic, Pidge! We've been over this," Lance huffs from next to her where he's lying on his back with his head hanging upside-down over the edge of the couch. "I'm already feeling _fragile_ as it is. I don't need a running commentary from Team Physics ruining my action flick too!" His overdramatic gesturing prompts the clay cat sitting on his chest to uncurl and stretch, pawing at his shirt a little before settling again.

It's Saturday night and they're at Hunk's house watching scientifically implausible action movies because Lance's girlfriend stood him up. Again. Hunk _really_ doesn't like her but somehow manages to hold his tongue in front of Lance. Pidge, on the other hand, is afforded no such luxury and has had to listen to many a rant on the subject. To be fair, Hunk does have a point (and not just because he's blatantly crushing on Lance while somehow having no clue that he is).

It's not that Nyma is a particularly bad person, though arguably she and her friend Rolo are probably the closest thing their small town has to drug dealers. And it's not that she's cheating on Lance or anything like that. Pidge checked. Hacked her phone _and_ her laptop, and Rolo's phone too for good measure. It's just that Lance is _way more_ into Nyma than she is him. So as soon as something more exciting comes along, she won't hesitate to abandon him without a second thought.

And for some reason Lance just puts up with it. And Hunk just puts up with Lance's inability to recognise that his relationship really _isn't working_. And Pidge is just glad that she's managed to get this far in life without becoming twitterpated. A couple of years ago she even considered casting an 'anti-love' spell on herself, after she got a front-row seat to the fallout from her brother's last breakup. However, even if she had had enough power for it, at the time she didn't exactly have access to the necessary resources for such a thing, with so much of the knowledge of witchcraft still being confined to physical books or limited to word of mouth.

Matt seems to be doing better now anyway. She misses him a lot now that he's away at college, but having Hunk and Lance to hang out with helps fill the brother-shaped hole in her life somewhat. And they actually make a pretty good team. Plus it's great being able to use her powers freely when she's at their houses and having access to so many magic books. She won't ever admit it out loud, but she really feels like she _belongs_.

-

As it continues, the spring delivers on its promise of something new, with a new student transferring to their school. Curious about the newcomer, Hunk asks Pidge to help him 'investigate' by hacking into the student database. What they find only serves to increase his curiosity. Turns out Keith got expelled from his last school after he was accused of arson (which is a little scary if it's true). But what really gets to Hunk is the fact that Keith's an orphan. This isn't just a new school for him, or even a new town, it's new foster parents too! With that in mind, Hunk figures, Keith could really use a friend.

Hunk is going to be that friend.

Pidge helpfully offers to find out what classes they have together and sends Hunk the complete schedule. So it comes as a surprise when he gets to Chem class and can't see Keith anywhere.

"Hey, Lance, have you seen Keith today? He's supposed to be in this class."

"Hm? Oh, you mean the new guy." Lance looks up from where he's been doodling little waves around the edges of his class notes. "I heard he's a bit of a _pyro_ , so he's not allowed anywhere near fire. Like, even if it's for school stuff."

"But... how's he supposed to learn Chemistry if he's not allowed in class?" Hunk asks, frowning hard.

"I dunno." Lance shrugs and goes back to doodling. "At least now he doesn't have to sit through boring science lectures."

"Lance!" Hunk scowls at him. "Education is a basic human right. They can't just exclude him... can they?"

"Sorry! I'm sorry." Lance holds up his hands and offers Hunk an apologetic smile. "I've just never had to worry about it, what with always having you around to defend my right to learn boring science. I guess his parents could take it up with the school board or whatever, but they probably don't care? I mean, he's just a foster kid, right?"

Hunk knows he's probably right and that no-one cares enough to do anything about it. But that doesn't change the fact that it's _wrong_.

He makes a point of sitting next to Keith in every class where he can. He shares his notes with Keith to help him catch up with what they've been studying, since he's coming into it partway through the school year. He offers to help whenever Keith seems like he's struggling with a particular assignment. But Keith still keeps mostly to himself. He's never outright rude, but he doesn't ever use any more words than necessary. When Hunk speaks to him, he's lucky if he gets a single syllable back in response. It's frustrating, but Hunk just reminds himself that he's doing this for _Keith's_ benefit, not to make himself feel good.

Then the day comes when Hunk overhears something in English class that makes him stop and look up sharply. The teacher has his hands resting on the front of Keith's desk, leaning over him. He keeps his voice low so the rest of the class can't hear him, but Hunk can just about make out what he's saying. At first he thinks he must've misheard. He's noticed how most of the teachers don't react well to Keith and tend to pick on him because he rarely speaks up in class. Hunk figures they must've made assumptions based on what happened at Keith's previous school. But what the teacher is saying now isn't about schoolwork. Hunk shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"So why don't you just do us all a favour and go back where you came from, hm?" the teacher finishes, finally standing up and making his way back to the front of the classroom.

Keith keeps his head bowed and his gaze pointedly fixed on his desk. He's breathing rapidly through his nose, his jaw tensed and his hands curled into tight fists on the tabletop. Hunk is just about to ask if he's OK, though it's clear that he's _not_ , when a sudden flash of light at the front of the room catches his eye.

The teacher's desk is on fire.

Keith bolts. He's out the door before Hunk is even out of his seat. Suddenly everything clicks into place in Hunk's mind. The trouble at Keith's old school, the 'pyromaniac' rumours, the fact that Hunk felt drawn to him from day one. After befriending Pidge, he really should've known. Keith is a witch and he's just doing what comes naturally. The Fire is his dominant element.

 _He just can't control it,_ Hunk thinks. Which really makes a lot of sense. If Keith's an orphan, then he hasn't had anyone in his family to teach him how to use his powers. He probably doesn't even know where they come from. He just knows that when he's upset, fires start. So he removes himself from the situation. But of course by running away, he also makes himself look guilty.

But this _isn't_ his fault. What the teacher said to him was... It makes Hunk's skin crawl to think about it, that someone could actually think that way about another human being. Sadly, he's been on the receiving end of that kind of racist thinking himself before. He knows all too well how real it is. But maybe here it gives him a chance to set the record straight.

When the fire has been dealt with and the other students return to class, Hunk heads instead to the principal's office. Just as he expected, Keith is sitting on one of the chairs outside, his gaze fixed on the floor. Hunk can hear the muffled sound of an angry conversation coming from inside the office. A moment later, the door opens and the English teacher storms out, shooting a glare at Keith over his shoulder as he goes. The principal emerges from his office and his grave expression changes to a friendly smile when he sees Hunk.

"Principal Goodwin, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I'm afraid I'm a little busy at the moment, Tsuyoshi."

"I know, but it's actually about what happened in English class." Hunk looks quickly at Keith, who is watching him with a worried look on his face. "There's something I think you should know."

The principal considers him for a moment. He knows Hunk, knows that he's a good student. He has the credibility to pull this off.

"Alright. But make it quick, OK?"

Hunk explains what happened, tells the principal all about the racist comments, and also makes sure to mention how he was sitting right next to Keith the whole time and how he wasn't anywhere near the fire when it started. After he leaves the office, Keith is called in. Hunk takes a detour via the bathroom on his way back to class, to compose himself. When he does eventually get back, the teacher isn't there and the class has apparently been cancelled.

When he sees Pidge later, she tells him that the teacher has been fired.

-

Keith can't believe his luck. The guy barely even knows him and he just stuck his neck out for Keith. And it _worked_. With someone else to backup his story, the principal actually listened to him. He even apologised for having misjudged him. Keith feels like he's just wished himself into a parallel universe where his life is actually not a complete disaster.

He manages to catch up to Hunk in the hallway later and tries to thank him.

"Oh, no problem," he says, all smiles. "I'm sure you would've done the same for me."

The next day Keith approaches Hunk's table at lunch. He knows the tall, lanky guy sitting with him is Lance, having overheard Hunk talking to him in class before. But he doesn't recognise the smaller student with them. He doesn't know what to say to start a conversation, but Hunk saves him again by speaking first.

"Hey Keith! You wanna sit with us?"

Keith doesn't actually say anything in answer but gives a little nod, setting his lunch tray down on the table and sliding into the empty seat next to Hunk. His friends go quiet for a moment, eyeing Keith curiously as he opens his drink, but then after a few beats they resume their conversation. When Keith dares to look up again, Hunk smiles at him and asks if he knows Lance and Pidge. The two wave at him in greeting and Keith waves back awkwardly.

The next day, he goes directly to their table and sits down without waiting to be asked first. Hunk looks pleased and no-one asks him to leave. He eats in silence while they chat. Something about a book and trying out some new spells. He wonders if it's some kind of role-playing game that they're talking about. Later in Math class he asks Hunk for help. He seems only too eager to provide it and Keith finds himself blushing a little.

The day after that is Friday. As Keith approaches, he can see Pidge talking to Hunk and poking him insistently in the side with a pencil. He seems nervous when Keith sits next to him. Then, just as Keith's about to start eating, Hunk clears his throat and asks if he would like to come have dinner at his house tonight. Keith is caught off-guard and peers over Hunk's shoulder to check that Pidge and Lance have also just heard this and he didn't just imagine it. It looks like they're all waiting for his answer. He nods and feels himself blushing again.

Hunk is babbling excitedly as they walk back to his house together. It's only a single storey, but has a good sized lawn out front. Hunk has two moms and they both greet Keith with welcoming smiles, introducing themselves as Marie and Laura. Marie cheerfully mentions how she's heard _so much about him_ and Keith blushes furiously, wondering what Hunk has said about him. He's invited to take a seat at the table in the kitchen and they talk while Hunk helps Marie prepare dinner. Keith learns that Hunk's real name is Tsuyoshi, after Laura's father, and that his parents are both originally from Hawaii. The kitchen is full of potted plants and little sculptures of animals, which Keith recognises as similar to the ones he's seen Hunk with at school. He's quite impressed to learn that Hunk makes them himself.

"Keith, would you mind lighting the candles for me?" Laura asks as she finishes setting the table for dinner. Keith feels his chest tighten uncomfortably.

"I um... I'm not supposed to have matches," he says sheepishly, looking down at his hands like they're guilty of something.

Laura quirks an eyebrow at him. She seems amused.

"Whatever would you need matches for, dear?"

Keith looks up sharply, his eyes widening in shock. But Laura just carries on with what she's doing like it's no big deal. Keith's not sure how they know. Presumably Hunk told them, but how _he_ figured it out, Keith has no idea. He looks around, but they're all just acting like everything is normal. Slowly he reaches out his hand towards the two candles on the table. His brow furrows a little as he concentrates and then a little flame springs to life on first one candle and then the other. He looks up to see Laura smiling broadly at him.

"Thank you."

Over dinner, Keith learns that he's a witch. And that's OK, because so is Hunk. And so are his moms, and his friends Lance and Pidge, too. Keith really had no idea that there was anyone else out there like him, much less whole families. Of course, he's researched pyrokinetic abilities and other psychic phenomenon. But all that turned up was dead ends and hoaxes, nothing that could actually help him.

He never knew his parents and now he's wondering whether one or both of them were witches too. Hunk explains that natural witches - those born with innate abilities - have a dominant element that they have control over. Hunk's is the Earth, so he can manipulate soil, stone and metal by will alone, without needing to cast a spell first. His moms are both naturals as well - Marie's element is the Water and Laura's is the Forest.

When his foster dad comes to collect him, Keith overhears him pre-emptively start to apologise to Laura. But she holds up a hand, shaking her head. She says that Keith was "no trouble at all" and that he "can come for dinner again any time he wants". When Keith steps outside, his foster father's face is a picture. The car ride home is the most comfortable interaction they've had since Keith moved in.

-

Lance doesn't really _get_ Keith. When he tells his dad about their new friend and how he's kind of weird, he laughs. It's the Fire, he says. Keith and Lance's elements are oppositional, so there's always going to be that aspect to their friendship, but that's OK because in a group they'll complement one another. As far as Lance is concerned, though, there's not much to compliment Keith on. He has a fricking mullet and his wardrobe seems to consist almost entirely of black and dark grey items. It's like he's time-travelled from the 80's or something.

Pidge has another theory. She thinks Lance just can't stand the competition. Which is bullshit, because he's totally fine with her. Mostly. He does feel a little left out sometimes when she and Hunk go into full metal geek mode and start speaking in a strange nerd language that he doesn't understand. But the rest of the time it's totally fine.

And three is a good number. Three is enough for a coven. Like, Keith is a nice enough guy and Lance doesn't mind if he hangs out with them occasionally, but they really don't _need_ a fourth element. Besides, Keith knows _nothing_ about magic. He's completely clueless. He's sixteen and until a couple of weeks ago he didn't even know that witches _existed_ , despite being one himself. It just blows Lance's mind.

But Hunk really seems to like him and just wants to teach him _everything_. Which is why his living room floor is currently covered in open spell books. Most of it is stuff that Lance's younger siblings could do in their sleep. But Keith is nervous about using his powers and even more nervous about them doing spells together, so Hunk thought it was best to go back to basics and start with something simple, i.e. _boring._

Lance casts his eye over the books remaining on the shelves around the room, the more advanced stuff. One in particular catches his eye. There's no text on the spine, just a bunch of little elemental symbols. With a groan at the effort, he drags himself up off the couch and goes over to the shelf to take a closer look. There is writing inside the book but it's not in English or Spanish or any other language that Lance can actually recognise. The pictures are intriguing, though.

He looks up as Keith excuses himself to go to the bathroom and catches Hunk giving him a disapproving look.

"Can you at least _try_ -"

"I _am_ trying!" Lance answers defensively.

"I know you don't really like him..."

"It's not that." Lance sighs. "I mean, I don't not like him. He's just kind of weird is all. But that's not the point. I... I just liked it when it was just the three of us."

"I know." Hunk's frown is replaced by a smile. "I did too. But the more elements we have access to, the more power we can harness. I mean, we're now just one element short of a full circle!"

"A full what now?" Lance asks, raising one eyebrow in question. Hunk laughs, hauling himself up off the floor and making his way over to where Lance is standing. He gently pushes the book in Lance's hands closed so that he can see the cover.

"A full circle." He traces the shape on the book's cover and Lance realises what the arrangement of symbols means.

"Huh."

"You should read it."

"Can't you just give me a brief summary?" Lance says, grinning appeasingly.

"Better yet, I can give you a Spanish translation." Hunk grins right back at him, showing no mercy. Lance slumps in defeat.

"And for those of us that may or may not be flunking Spanish?" They both turn and look down at where Pidge is sitting on the rug.

"Five witches working together, one dominant in each of the elements of magic - the Earth, the Water, the Forest," Hunk says, gesturing to each of them in turn, "the Fire and the Air - can form a circle of infinite power. Like, we'd be able to do _anything_."

"Sounds exhausting," Lance says, handing Hunk the book and getting the Spanish version shoved into his hands in return. Pidge is looking thoughtful, possibly plotting world domination.

"I know Keith's kind of inexperienced right now, but he _is_ powerful," Hunk insists. "With a little guidance he can totally pull his weight."

"And then all we need is the Air," Pidge says, sounding dangerously like she's sold on the idea.

"Well, when you actually _find_ it- them- whatever, you let me know, OK?" Lance says, trying to draw a line under the subject. They feel eerily like famous last words.

-

It's Career Day at school and instead of their usual classes, there are various guest speakers giving talks about specific careers. At this point they're three talks in and Lance is unimaginably bored. The teacher introduces their next speaker as "Mr Shirogane" (though the man himself quietly adds that "just Shiro" is fine) and says that he's a military veteran here to talk to them about a career in the Armed Forces. Shiro sets down a handful of pamphlets on the table in front of him and then there's a great deal of tittering when he gives them a shy but friendly wave and everyone notices that he's missing his right arm below the shoulder. 

"That's really cool that they're letting him give us such a balanced view," Hunk whispers. "I mean, he's clearly seen the ugly side of war, but he's still here promoting a career in it. He obviously thinks that it's a worthwhile thing to do."

"Who cares?" is Lance's response. "He's hot. I'd be happy to give him a hand _anytime_."

Even with his back turned to him, Lance can tell that Keith is rolling his eyes at him. But he's just calling it like he's sees it. It's not his fault that the guy's attractive. All the previous speakers were boring old people in suits. This guy looks to be in his early twenties at most and has obviously benefited from the Army's intense training regime, because he is beautifully built. One arm is more than enough when it's that fine-looking.

Lance does his very best to give the guy his full attention, but a few minutes in he realises that something's off. There's a strange energy in the room. Frowning, he looks around at the others to see if they've noticed it too. Keith is sitting up a little straighter in his seat and next to him Hunk seems transfixed. Straining to look over his shoulder, he spots Pidge, her face tight with tension. In front of her, a wooden pencil stands upright seemingly by itself, its point slowly boring a hole into the desk. Lance feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Then several things happen all at once.

There's a loud _snap_ as Pidge's pencil breaks in two. A glass of water, left out on the teacher's desk, falls over, spilling its contents. The ground beneath them gives a tiny shudder. And the pamphlets in front of Shiro burst into flames.

Several people scream, the fire alarm goes off and the classroom descends into panic. Lance is already out of his seat, calling "I got this" over his shoulder. But just as he reaches the fire, which Shiro is trying vainly to smoother, with a _whoosh_ it flares up and out, covering the entire desk in flames. Lance freezes up, but then Hunk appears at his side, grabbing his arm with one hand and Shiro's with the other and pulling them towards the exit.

Outside the classroom they get caught up in the flow of people, as the school evacuates out onto the playing field. Once they're outside, Lance looks back and sees Keith jogging towards them.

"Are you OK?" Hunk asks, concerned. "Did you see Pidge come out?" Keith shakes his head and Hunk gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Did you guys see that?!" Lance exclaims, eyes wide. "I was just about to put it out and then it was like FWOOOSH!" He gestures dramatically with his hands.

"I know," Hunk says, jabbing his thumb in Shiro's direction. "It was him. He's the fifth element."

"Like the movie?" Lance frowns.

"No!" Hunk lets out an exasperated sigh. "Did you even read that book I gave you?"

"Well, it kinda seemed like you had it covered," Lance admits sheepishly. "So I figured we didn't _all_ need to read it."

"Uh, I'm not sure what you think you know, but I'm not-" Shiro starts.

"No, it's OK. We're all witches, too," Hunk reassures him. "And you're the Air element we've been searching for."

But Shiro is backing away.

"I'm not. I'm sorry. Look, thanks for your help, but I'm not who you think I am."

Lance frowns. Hunk's made it clear that they're among friends, so why is Shiro still denying it?

"Keith, hold his arm," Hunk says suddenly.

"Hey!" Shiro says as Keith moves to restrain him. Hunk pulls a smooth grey stone out of his pocket, hefting it in his hand. This by itself doesn't surprise Lance - he knows Hunk usually keeps something small that he can control on him at all times, just in case he needs it - but he doesn't like the way Hunk is looking at Shiro.

"Whoa! Wait a minute. Hunk, what are you doing?" he asks worriedly. But before Lance can stop him, Hunk throws the stone straight at Shiro.

And he catches it. Not with his left hand, which Keith has pinned behind his back, but with an invisible right hand. The stone seems to hang in the air for a moment, as Shiro stares at Hunk, stunned. Then he blinks and it drops to the ground with a thud.

"I'm sorry," Hunk says carefully. "But I'm not wrong. You _are_ the one we've been looking for. And I need you to hear me out."

-

Shiro double-checks the number on the classroom door before tentatively pushing it open. Inside, Hunk and Lance are sitting at one of the tables.

"Are you sure it's OK for us to be in here?" Shiro asks nervously. He feels a little awkward coming back to the school, especially after the fire. Hunk asked him to come back at the end of the day and told him which classroom number to go to.

"Oh, yeah," Hunk reassures him. "If anyone asks, we've got permission to hold a study group. We, uh, do this sort of thing a lot."

Shiro nods. He's just about to take a seat in the chair opposite Lance, but startles when he catches sight of a small figure moving by itself on the table between them. A closer inspection reveals what looks like a crudely shaped little dog, made out of what he guesses is clay.

"Don't worry, he won't bite. He doesn't actually have a mouth." Lance grins at him.

Shiro sits down and stretches out his hand towards the clay dog, palm up. Slowly, as though it's not quite sure about him, the dog makes its way over and makes a motion as though sniffing at his fingers. Which of course it can't actually do, he realises, since it's lacking a proper nose as well as a mouth. Fascinated, Shiro reaches out with his air hand to pet it, but it flinches away and quickly runs back to the safety of Lance's folded arms.

"It's OK, little guy. Shiro's our friend," Lance says, smoothing his hand over the dog's back reassuringly.

"He's probably just worried about getting dried out," Hunk says, looking apologetic. "Once they dry out they can't move any more. Lance keeps the clay moist."

"You made this? Out of clay?" Shiro asks, studying the dog, which has now curled up behind Lance's arm where it's resting on the table. "But how is it alive?"

"Oh, Pidge helped me with that part," Hunk responds brightly. He seems pleased to be talking about it. "Before, I could make them move by myself, using my powers, but they were just like puppets - they needed a puppeteer. But with Pidge we were able to breathe life into them. She's got the Forest as her dominant element, so she has control over animals."

"Like a Disney princess, only nerdier and crankier," Lance fills in helpfully.

"Pidge has the Forest, Lance the Water, Keith the Fire and I've got the Earth," Hunk continues, "and with your Air element we'll have a complete circle."

"What exactly does that mean?" Shiro asks. "It's just, I've never actually met any other witches before, aside from my parents." It's not technically a lie, though he was aware that there were others out there.

"It just means that we can combine our powers to do things that we could never do on our own. With access to all five elements, the sky's pretty much the limit in terms of what we could accomplish."

"Like the dog?" Shiro asks, gesturing to the clay creature with a nod of his head.

"Exactly!" Hunk says excitedly. "It took three of us to make that possible. Just think what five of us could do!"

"OK, I think I get it. But how do we go about actually combining our powers?"

"You just... Maybe it's easier to show you. Just join hands with Lance."

Lance reaches for Shiro's left hand without hesitation, but stops short when he remembers the empty right side. He looks up at Shiro uncertainly.

"May I?" Shiro asks, inclining his head in question. Lance nods his consent and Shiro reaches out with his air hand to grasp Lance's left.

"Cool," Lance says, holding up his hand and gazing with fascination at the seemingly empty space that surrounds it.

"Now, just focus on the space between you and bring your element to it."

Shiro takes a deep breath and tries to concentrate. It's difficult not to just look across the desk at Lance, so he closes his eyes and tries to picture the space between them instead. For a few long moments everything is quiet, no sound except their breathing. And then he feels it, a sensation of warmth flowing into his hand from Lance's. And then he feels the moisture gathering in the air. He opens his eyes.

There's something forming in the air. At first it just looks like the faintest wisp of smoke, but as he focuses on it more closely, it becomes more definite. He realises that it's a tiny cloud.

He looks up at Lance quickly and their eyes meet momentarily before they both return their focus to the cloud. It's growing rapidly in size, filling the space between them. Lance lets out a nervous laugh.

"Now see if you can shape it," Hunk encourages. "Like, make an animal or something."

"How about a dog?" Shiro suggests, thinking about the clay animal, and Lance nods in agreement.

Shiro concentrates as hard as he can, trying to form the shape of a dog. But although the cloud does twist into a different shape, it doesn't resemble a dog at all. After a couple of minutes, Lance lets out a frustrated little huff.

"This is too hard. I don't know how you do this, Hunk."

"You just have to reach out and grasp it and then pull it into a shape, like it's in your hands."

"Yeah, well, maybe that works with clay but this is water droplets and-and _air_. It's not exactly graspable."

"Maybe if we try something simpler?" Shiro suggests. "With fewer limbs?"

"A dolphin?" Lance ventures. Shiro nods.

This time they do a lot better. It's fairly easy to gently manipulate the cloud into the shape of the main body. Lance is right, the secret seems to be _not_ to try and grasp it. They form the nose next. The fins are much trickier and they almost rip a hole in the cloud with their first couple of tries. But on the third attempt the cloud extends nicely, and then it's easy to replicate on the other side. The tail follows almost without Shiro thinking about it.

Sitting up a little, they admire their handiwork. It's incredible. It _feels_ incredible. Shiro has never felt a rush quite like this. It's like Lance's power is amplifying his. Shiro looks past the cloud dolphin to see him grinning again.

It's at that moment that the clay dog, which has been crouched in front of Lance while the cloud has been forming, leaps up and straight through the dolphin. The little cloud pops out of existence and Shiro lets go of Lance's hand. They both let out a nervous laugh.

"Damn. Guess he couldn't stand the competition," Lance says jokingly.

"But you still did it!" Hunk insists enthusiastically and Shiro finds himself pulled into a hug. "This is what I mean! We can do such cool stuff if we-"

"Shiro?"

Shiro feels his stomach knot as he looks up at the girl standing in the classroom doorway. 

"Katie?"

"Oh, hey Pidge!" Hunk starts to say. "Guess what we-"

"What's he doing here?" Katie snaps, cutting him off.

"Oh, this is Shiro. He did that talk in class earlier, remember? Anyway, he's the fifth element, the one we've been looking for!"

"No. He's not." And without another word, she turns and heads back out the door, almost bumping into Keith as he enters.

"What's wrong with Pidge?" he asks, frowning.

"I dunno," Hunk says disappointedly. "I thought she'd be excited but... she seems kind of mad. Wait." He pauses and gives Shiro a scrutinising look. "You called her Katie. Do you guys already know each other?"

-

The next day, as she wanders the aisles at the local florist, Pidge thinks about Shiro. Usually visiting the plants here, or the animals at the pet shop, helps distract her from anything she doesn't want to think about. But today it's not working.

She _suspected_ that Shiro had powers of some sort, based on her own observations and some things that Matt and her dad mentioned, but she was never sure. Yesterday she was fully prepared to go through the whole of Career Day on autopilot. Even if she graduates early, which she is already on track to do, there are plenty of things she still won't be allowed to do until she turns eighteen, or even twenty-one. So right now, career planning feels like a bit of a waste of time. But when she heard the teacher say Shiro's name and looked up to find that, yes, it _was_ him, she was immediately on red alert.

Then the fire happened and she knew exactly what that meant, exactly how Hunk would react. So she made herself scarce when everyone evacuated, hoping to avoid talking to the others until later when Shiro wasn't around. What she hadn't counted on was him showing up at their after school 'study group'. And when she saw him there, all her anger just welled up inside of her.

But she's going to have to deal with this eventually, one way or another. It's not like Hunk is just going to drop it without some kind of explanation. Giving up on distracting herself, she silently says goodbye to the plants and heads back out into the street. And apparently fate thinks that she needs a little push, because Shiro is right across the street, struggling to juggle groceries with one arm.

"Let me help you with that," Pidge grits out as she approaches, not quite able to muster a friendly tone.

"Uh, thanks." Shiro sounds like he knows full well that this isn't some selfless act of charity.

"We need to talk," she continues, nodding in the direction of the diner a little way down the street. "Buy me a milkshake?"

"Sure." Shiro plays along, forcing a fake smile.

They sit in a booth near the back. Luckily, the place is mostly deserted at this time of day. Pidge orders an extra large Oreo milkshake out of spite and Shiro just has an iced tea.

"So, Katie... how have you been?" he tries after a couple of minutes of awkward silence. "Or should I be calling you Pidge now?"

"Let's just cut the bullshit, OK?"

"OK," Shiro says, straightening in his seat.

"I need you to stay away from my friends," Pidge says bluntly. "I don't care what you tell Hunk, just make it clear that you can't be part of the circle and you don't want him to contact you ever again."

"O-OK." Shiro looks rather crestfallen. Good.

"They're good people and they're basically the only real friends I've got, so I don't want to see them get hurt."

"Look, Katie- Pidge, I swear, I have no intention of-"

"Yeah, well," she interrupts him, "you'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it."

Shiro sighs, resigned.

"OK, that's fair. And I know there's no excuse for what I did. But you should know that what happened with Matt was-"

"If you say 'an accident', I swear to god, I will kill you."

To his credit, Shiro looks like he takes that threat seriously.

"It wasn't. _I_ screwed up. I know that now, but at the time I just-I just panicked."

"I'm probably going to regret asking this, but why _did_ you do it? It really seemed like you loved him."

"I did," Shiro admits. "And I lost him, forever. But at the time I just couldn't see another way out." He looks down sadly at his hand resting on the table. He hasn't even touched his tea. "Back when I got my first posting, I made it clear to him that he didn't have to stay with me. I said I was fine with it if he wanted a break, wanted to see other people. We could just stay friends. He was younger than me and I just didn't want him to be sitting around alone, waiting for me, when he could've been out meeting someone better. Someone who'd actually _be_ there.

"But he insisted that he was happy to wait. More than happy. He used to write me all the time - really long, detailed letters - even though I rarely had time to write back. Maybe if I'd had the guts to actually break up with him earlier, it might have been OK. But I _did_ love him and I felt so lucky, to have someone who was willing to put up with me. I couldn't bring myself to give that up.

"I was so excited when I called to tell him that my request for leave had been granted and I was going to be there for his graduation. But what he said that day made me feel sick to my stomach. He was going to enlist. He said he wanted us to be together and he had it all planned out, how he was going to manipulate the system to get stationed where I was. I tried to talk him out of it, but the more I argued, the more stubborn he became. He said he didn't understand why I didn't want this.

"On Graduation Day we got into a fight about it. I even threatened to break up with him, but he didn't believe me. And even if I did, he said, he would do it anyway - he knew what he was doing. But _I_ knew he wouldn't survive out there. He was going to get himself killed. And I panicked.

"I thought, if I can hurt him, so bad that he'll never forgive me, then he'll forget all about me and the Army forever."

"You broke his heart," Pidge says quietly, trying to ignore the tears welling in her eyes. The damage Shiro did to her brother is still quite fresh in her mind.

"I know. I know, but it worked. He's safe."

"You know, it took Mum and Dad _so_ long to accept that it actually happened. They kept saying that it just wasn't like you, that it didn't make any sense. Dad had this theory that you were really just unwell and one day you'd just show up on our doorstep with a neat little diagnosis and that would be that, case closed, and everything would just go back to normal. But you never came back."

"He told me not to come near his family ever again. And I had every reason to think that he meant it."

"So why did you come back here?"

"Honestly? After I was discharged I didn't really know where else to go. Home was always just where my family was based. I never really had any ties to a particular place. But we buried my dad here, so that felt like the closest thing I had."

For a minute they both fall silent. Pidge isn't sure what to do. What Shiro's said changes things, certainly, but it doesn't make it all OK again.

"I need time to think about this," she says finally. "Do you have a number I can reach you on?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." He pulls a cellphone out of his pocket and unlocks it with his thumb, flicking through to find his contact info. He looks just the tiniest bit hopeful as he slides the phone across the table so she can take down the number on the screen.

"Thanks."

"Katie... Pidge. I really am sorry."

-

The next day Shiro gets a text telling him to meet Pidge that evening at an address in town. He doesn't realise that it's actually Hunk's home until he arrives at the house and Hunk opens the front door. He seems very pleased to see Shiro, welcoming him in like an old friend and directing him to the living room. Keith, Pidge and Lance are sitting cross-legged on a large Afghan rug in the middle of the floor. Hunk takes a seat next to Lance. Shiro hesitates, looking at Pidge questioningly. She pats the space between herself and Keith. Shiro makes his way over, sitting down carefully and looking around at the assembled circle.

"So, does this mean...?"

"It means I want you to be part of our circle," Pidge says, smiling grudgingly. "If you think you can handle it?"

Shiro returns the smile, grateful for the second chance she's offering him.

"I'll certainly give it my best shot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Story and chapter titles are from 'A Charming Spell' by Splashdown.  
> 2) Thanks to [Hina](http://hinazinnia.tumblr.com) for inspiring the 'Hunk has two moms' headcanon. Marie and Laura are supposed to be like AU versions of her characters Kanta and Alex.  
> 3) Obligatory Note About Ages - When I wrote most of this I didn't know what the characters' ages were in canon or when their birthdays were (we still don't know about Matt), so I just made it up as I went along. So, in the course of the story Pidge is 14/15, Keith is 16/17, Hunk is 17/18, Lance is 16/17, Shiro is 22/23, and Matt is 20/21.


	2. With a secret garden and a heart unhardened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) In this chapter, warnings for - fire/things being set on fire, discussion of past domestic abuse, mention of past depression, briefly implied racism, transphobia and bullying.  
> 2) Thanks to [Rhi](http://thebonepilot.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing this chapter!  
> 3) Please comment if you like the story and let me know if there were any lines/scenes/ideas that you particularly enjoyed.

Lance has spent most of his life around other witches. There are a lot of naturals in his family, but of those closest to him, all are dominant in what they call the terrestrial elements - Earth, Water and Forest. So it's been a bit of a novel experience for him first getting to know Keith, and now Shiro, and finally becoming part of a circle. His parents approve and seem especially pleased that Shiro is there to provide 'adult supervision'. Personally, Lance is pretty excited to see what this so-called limitless power that Hunk has been harping on about can actually do.

"Don't we need some, like, raw materials or something?" Lance asks, impatiently tracing one of the patterns on the rug beneath him with his finger.

"No, our combined power should be enough for most things," Hunk answers. "I want to start with something simple anyway. I was thinking we could change the weather tomorrow."

"Isn't that kind of redundant?" Pidge asks, looking sceptical. "I mean, Lance has made it rain on his own before. And how will we even know that it's worked and wasn't just going to happen anyway?"

"Well, I thought about that," Hunk counters. "And I figured we just need to make the change dramatic enough to tell. So, I think we should do a snow day."

Lance raises an eyebrow. It's summer now and they didn't even have very much snow last winter.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Shiro asks. "I mean, technically aren't we altering reality by doing that?"

"It's only going to be for one day." Hunk sounds a little defensive. "And it's just changing around a few natural elements. It's not like we're turning the sky purple or something."

"Can we do that?" Keith asks, apparently fully serious. Lance shoots him a look. Sometimes he wonders what planet that guy lives on.

"Let's just start with snow," Pidge cuts in impatiently.

"OK," Shiro says, taking a deep breath. "Are we all agreed, then? We're doing this?"

Everyone nods their assent.

"Right, so we just need to join hands," Hunk instructs. Lance takes his and Keith's hands, then looks over at the space between Keith and Shiro. Hunk has noticed too. "Sorry, Shiro, but I think we should have a physical connection for this. Just to ensure that it works." Shiro nods, apparently not offended, and shifts a bit closer so that Keith can reach his shoulder. "Ready? OK, let's do this."

-

The next day Lance is in heaven. Despite being woken up this morning by his little brother and sister jumping on his bed, he is in a fantastic mood. There's no school and there's beautiful frozen water _everywhere_. He runs out of the house so fast that he forgets his boots; not that that bothers him in the slightest. In the last year he's learned how to make himself effectively waterproof by manipulating the water off of his skin and clothes after Pidge pointed out that, scientifically speaking, he should really be able to do that. It's still cold though, and he soon hears his mom calling him back inside to put some warmer clothes on. He's back out a few minutes later, now suitably wrapped up and having grabbed his phone as well, calling Hunk to tell him the good news.

"It worked! It really worked! Hunk, you're a genius and I love you!"

"We all made it happen," Hunk corrects him. "And you're welcome. Hey, do you mind coming over to Keith's house? His foster dad asked him to clear the driveway and it'd probably go a lot faster if we had your powers to help."

"Sure, no problemo. Um... where _does_ Keith live?"

Hunk quickly gives him directions and it's not too far, so Lance decides to walk, enjoying the feeling of the snow crunching beneath his boots. Once he arrives at the house, it takes him all of five minutes to lift up all the snow from the driveway and dump it on one side, while Keith gapes dumbly and Shiro frets about witnesses. And then it's time for a snowball fight! Lance is highly amused to discover that if he covers Keith in enough snow, he can get steam to rise off of him.

"He's so mad, he's _fuming_ ," Lance says, grinning and nudging Hunk in the side.

"If I kill him, it will break the circle," Pidge muses out loud, without so much as a hint of sarcasm. "But then Water dominants are like a dime a dozen, right? He can be replaced."

"Lance, maybe cool it a bit with the snowball fights!" Shiro calls to him, then immediately looks like he regrets his choice of words as a wide grin spreads across Lance's face. It's just too good an opening for him to ignore.

"Oh, I can be _cool_."

Shortly after that, snowball fights are banned and Shiro strongly suggests he spend the rest of the day teaching the others better temperature control.

-

With one successful experiment under their belt, they decide to write up a list of things they want to make happen. This list is further whittled down by Shiro, with items discarded for a number of reasons ranging from 'too petty' all the way up to 'morally objectionable'. Pidge brings up the idea of 'saving' the dogs that are being euthanized at the pound, but Lance quickly shakes his head, turning pale at the thought. Shiro is confused until Keith explains to him about The Night of The Possum That Wouldn't Play Possum. Pidge's experiments with reanimating roadkill are the reason Lance can never watch _Pet Cemetery_ again.

So, since anything involving _dead_ animals is out, Shiro concedes, what about healing living ones? Or people for that matter? A rather lengthy discussion follows about whether great power does indeed come with great responsibility. Pidge suggests that they try to regrow Shiro's arm, but he politely declines, stating that while he certainly appreciates the thought, he doesn't think it's a very good idea. What he _is_ willing to try, however, is anything that will help with the pain.

Lance blinks in shock. The others are all staring at Shiro in stunned silence.

"I didn't know you were still in pain," Pidge finally says quietly.

"It's not something I tend to talk about," Shiro admits, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Where does it hurt?" Keith asks.

"Well, that's just the thing," Shiro says, looking almost apologetic. "It's my arm. The one that's gone."

"Is... Is that normal?" Hunk asks tentatively.

"Oh, yeah. It's pretty common." Shiro smiles reassuringly at him. "Look, I don't know if there's really anything you guys can do..."

"Does it hurt right now?" Keith pipes up again. He looks quite concerned. Shiro bites his lip, lowering his head.

"Yeah. It does. But I'm sort of used to it by now. It's... It gets worse when I use my arm." Keith blinks in confusion, then looks to the others like he's checking to see if he's missed something. Shiro laughs nervously. "I've gotten used to compensating using my powers. I imagine that my arm's still there and it forms out of, uh, I guess it would be air pressure..."

"That's how I can feel your hand even though it's not there," Lance says, realisation finally dawning on him.

"Right. Yeah. But all the treatments I've had have been designed to get my brain used to the idea that I don't have a right arm any more. It doesn't really work if I keep adding it back in. So I just stopped taking the medication."

"We'll find a way," Hunk says, his expression determined. Lance has no doubt that they will.

-

Usually being at Hunk's house helps ease any anxieties Keith's feeling. It's the one place he can truly relax. There are candles all over the house and he enjoys lighting them as he enters a room and putting them out as he leaves, so that a collection of little flames follows him around like a flock of yellow ducklings wherever he goes. His control has improved a lot recently and it's been over a month since he last caused an accidental fire. He's actually getting along well with his foster parents and they're happy to let him stay at Hunk's house most weekends. They're probably just glad to have him out of their hair for a while, but he appreciates the freedom he's being given all the same.

But today Keith is anything but calm as he sits on Hunk's couch, fiddling with the ears on the lion plush that Pidge gave him. She won it on a shooting game when they were at the fair last week, using magic to ensure that her aim was true. She gave it to him because she knows how much he likes animals, and big cats in particular. Keith sighs and clutches the stuffed animal close to his chest. He really didn't think this through enough.

The spell worked perfectly. Shiro needed some convincing, because he didn't like the idea of them using magic to cheat on a test, but the others eventually persuaded him that it was worth it to ensure that Keith gets to graduate. Things have definitely been better lately, but with all the moving around from place to place, changing schools and being excluded from some classes, he's still struggling a bit to keep up with school. And Chemistry is one of his worst subjects.

The spell induced a sort of temporary telepathic link, so that he and Hunk can communicate without talking out loud. Shiro made him swear that he wouldn't ask for help during the test unless he was genuinely stuck on a problem, and Hunk promised not to volunteer any of the answers unless he was asked. It worked really well. Keith only actually needed help a couple of times, managing to muddle through the rest on his own. The study sessions with Hunk and Pidge beforehand really paid off.

The problem is that for the duration of the day, Hunk can hear his conscious thoughts. So Keith has spent the whole day concentrating on keeping them limited to 'safe' topics, like food, school, wanting to strangle Lance... And absolutely, under no circumstances thinking about how he feels about his friend. It's evening now and at this point he's exhausted, and has a headache that he's starting to think might be a migraine.

Hunk isn't perfect. He's nosey, he meddles in other people's business and he needs frequent reminders about personal space. But he's also really smart and kind, always happy to help out anyone who needs it. He gives the best hugs and always supports his friends, even when Lance is being really annoying. Keith loves that about him.

It took him a while to work out that he actually has a crush. After so long in the foster care system, he's perfected the art of squashing his feelings. After a while he just stopped forming attachments. And it made things a lot easier whenever he had to let go of another potential parent or sibling. But now he has the circle, and Hunk's friendship, and avoiding his emotions just isn't an option any more. Especially when he doesn't even have to say anything for Hunk to know what's going on in his head.

"Hey, not long to go now. Bet you're looking forward to having your head back all to yourself again, huh?" Keith doesn't answer, simply watching as Hunk comes over and sits down next to him. The spell is supposed to wear off once it gets dark, but it's summer so that's still a few hours away. Hunk looks down at the lion in Keith's hands and it reminds him of the fair. _That was a good night,_ Hunk thinks. _God, I ate so much cotton candy._

It was actually the first time Keith had ever tried cotton candy. It was so soft and sweet... Just like Hunk, with his warm hands and his big stupid grin and the way his tongue sticks out of the corner of his mouth when he concentrates really hard-

 _No! Stop! Abort!_ Keith tries desperately to extinguish the thought before it can fully form. He _has_ to think about something else. _Anything_ else. He looks around the room, frantically searching for something to focus on.

"Keith, are you OK?" Hunk is looking at him with concern.

 _I think my head's going to explode._ Seeing the panicked expression on Hunk's face, he realises that his friend must've heard that thought. "No. I mean, I-I just-" _I just really like you and I really want to kiss you right now and- Oh shit._

 _Do you really mean that?_ comes the answering thought almost immediately. Keith looks up at Hunk, his mind finally going completely blank, now that he doesn't need it to be any more.

"... Yes."

Slowly, Hunk reaches out with one hand and places it under Keith's chin, gently tilting his head up, and kisses him. Keith's brain short-circuits, all the candles in the room flare up and the TV whirs and clicks as the power to the house falters. When they part and he opens his eyes, Hunk is smiling at him.

_I really like you too._

It's strange hearing it like that, as an unfiltered thought, and it makes Keith's heart swell with want. Hunk carefully gathers him up in his arms, closing his eyes and gently resting his forehead against Keith's.

 _We still have a few hours to go_ , Keith thinks happily, as he kisses Hunk again.

-

Sometimes it seems to Hunk that Shiro simultaneously has so much more and so much less than the rest of the circle. He's older and more experienced in using magic, having had more years in which to master his powers. The fact that he can wield the air itself as though it were a solid object is still astonishing to Hunk. And he's no slouch when it comes to potions and powders, either. This takes Hunk by surprise; that Shiro not only recognises the various herbs that they have around the house, but also knows what to use them for.

But Hunk is also aware that Shiro is far too young to have lost so much - his arm, his career, his parents. He does eventually explain to Hunk how he knew Pidge before meeting the rest of them. Turns out he used to date her brother Matt. But they had a bad breakup - entirely his fault, Shiro says - and since then he hasn't spoken to Matt or his parents. Pidge seems to have forgiven him, though, and Hunk knows from personal experience that Pidge does not forgive easily. He's still not off the hook for that one time he read her diary.

Shiro doesn't just complete their circle, he adds to it. He's teaching them new things all the time, like how Keith and Lance can control temperature in their elements. But while the four of them leave the circle to go back to class or home to their parents, Shiro really doesn't have anywhere to go. Hunk knows that he's been staying with some friends at the army base just outside of town. It's not something they generally allow, but Shiro is still well loved and well respected enough that people are willing to look the other way. It was only ever meant to be a temporary arrangement, though.

Shiro doesn't like to complain, but it's clear that he's struggling. When Hunk finally asks him about it directly, he admits that he needs to find a place to stay before the end of the month. He has a job, working nights, but it doesn't pay much; certainly not enough for rent. So when he does manage to get an interview for a potential second job, Hunk insists on making it a priority for the circle to ensure that he gets it.

This is easier said than done, since there are a lot of variables to consider. Pidge lends Shiro her laptop so that he can do some research and interview prep, while she and Hunk draw up a plan of action. In the end they decide to target the other interview candidates and eliminate the competition, because Shiro is uncomfortable with the idea of actively bewitching someone into giving him a job. They don't need magic to find out who the candidates are and dig up a little background information on them, enough to locate some potential weak spots.

What they end up with are two parallel spells - one to boost Shiro's luck and ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible for him, and a second to make sure everything that can go wrong does for the other interviewees. Bad weather, badly behaved animals and pollen allergies are just a few of the weapons in their arsenal. The result is that none of the other candidates actually make it to their interviews on time. And as it happens, the shop owner warms to Shiro pretty much immediately. He has a sister in the Army and a great respect for veterans.

They celebrate their victory with dinner at Hunk's house and a spell to relieve Shiro's phantom limb pain, both of which are gratefully received. Shiro is going to be working night and day, but it means he's got enough money to rent a tiny apartment in town. It consists of just three rooms and a narrow hallway, so it's not much, but Hunk and Lance's parents make it clear that if Shiro ever needs help with anything, all he has to do is ask. After all, he's practically family now.

-

Keith looks up just in time to see Hunk rushing towards him. His friend wraps him up in a tight hug as soon as he's within reach and Keith clings to him just as tightly. He called Hunk from the police station as soon as they were done questioning him.

"Are you OK?" Hunk asks, pulling back to take a proper look at him.

Keith nods, coughing hoarsely. He hasn't had a chance to clean up, so his face and arms are still blackened with smoke. He tried to reduce the fire, to bring it under control, but it overwhelmed him and exploded in his face, knocking him off his feet. He didn't try to run; he knew there was no point. But he did deny starting it, sticking rigidly to his story no matter how many times the cops asked him. Not that they actually believe him. With his history there's no way they're going to give him the benefit of the doubt. But they have no actual evidence, no real motive other than a teenage delinquent 'acting out', so they're not charging him with anything.

He's still in a world of trouble, though. His foster father's voice carries over to them from the little office along from where Keith is sitting.

"I don't-Look, I don't think he's a bad kid. At least he seemed to be getting better. But this-it's my _car_! I just don't think I can handle this any more."

Hunk looks into Keith's eyes, worry creasing his face. Keith kind of feels like crying, but ends up coughing some more instead. He inhaled quite a lot of smoke, though the paramedics said he would be OK. He feels exhausted. He can't go home, because he doesn't have one any more. After this, they won't take him back. He really fucked up this time and he has no idea what to do.

He _was_ angry at his foster father - they had a fight earlier - but he never meant to start a fire. It was an accident. As per usual, his subconscious just took matters into its own hands. Before tonight he'd never seen a car burn. It was an ugly sight, and one he hopes he'll never see again. God, he wishes he could take it back, just turn back time to before it happened. For the first time in years, he'd felt like things were finally coming together. But now it's all fallen apart again.

Much to his relief, Marie says that he can stay with them for the night. They take a detour to his foster parents' place on the drive back and he quickly packs most of his things into a duffel bag, that sinking feeling of deja vu settling in his stomach. When they get back to the house he asks if he can take a quick shower, since his face and arms are still sooty and he stinks of smoke. He turns up the temperature of the shower as hot as he can stand and then a little hotter, trying not to sob as the water beats down on him. After drying off and changing into some pyjama pants and the old t-shirt he usually sleeps in, he goes to find Hunk. He's in his room, getting ready for bed.

"Can you show me where the spare blankets are?" Keith asks quietly. "I can go make up the couch."

Hunk blinks at him, confused. Then he lets out a nervous laugh.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch."

Now it's Keith's turn to be confused. When the circle have sleepovers at Hunk's house, they usually sleep in the living room, either on the couch and armchairs, or on a spare mattress on the floor. He just assumed he'd be on the couch.

"You can sleep here," Hunk says, patting his double bed invitingly. Keith feels a blush heating up his face.

"Are-are you sure your moms are OK with that?"

"Oh, yeah, it's totally fine. So long as there's no sexy business until I'm eighteen, they're OK with it. Lance always sleeps with me when it's just him staying over." Keith takes a moment to process that sentence, torn between embarrassment and jealousy. Lance has been here many times before him. And he will be here again after Keith is gone. He feels the urge to cry again and his distress must be visible, because Hunk is wrapping him up in a hug. "Unless you're not comfortable with it! 'Cause if you're not, you can have the bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

"No... I mean..." He can't hold the tears back any more. He doesn't want to lose Hunk. They're probably going to send him somewhere far away and his new parents aren't going to want to drive him all the way back here just to see his friends. If he even _gets_ new parents, which he realises then is overly optimistic. He hangs on tightly to Hunk, tears soaking into his shirt.

"Hey, hey." Hunk guides him over to sit on the edge of the bed. "We'll think of something. If I have to bewitch all the social workers in the county, I'll do it. I'm not gonna let you go."

Keith sniffles in response and tries to wipe away his tears. He wants so badly to believe that Hunk can save him, but he just can't. This might be their last night together, so he should be making the most of it. He takes a shuddering breath as Hunk gently brushes his hair back behind his ear.

"I do want to stay with you tonight."

Hunk says he usually sleeps on the left side, so Keith takes the right. Hunk holds him until he falls asleep.

-

The next day Keith is sent off to school along with Hunk. He does half-heartedly try to argue against this, but Marie is adamant that sitting around the house on his own worrying will do him no good. School will be a good distraction for him. Lance and Pidge react exactly as Hunk did, insisting that they can fix things. They're powerful enough to stop this, they say. But Keith doesn't see how that's possible unless they can literally turn back time.

He uses Hunk's phone to call Shiro during lunch and tells him everything, unfiltered by fake optimism. Shiro listens carefully and there's a pause before he responds. He reminds Keith that he's not far off eighteen, and close to graduating high school. His advice is to wait, and endure, then make a change when he can. "This too shall pass, all you have to do is survive it." Keith appreciates his honesty. So far Shiro seems to be the only one not trying to convince him that there's going to be some magical cure-all for this situation.

It's nearing the end of the day when Hunk receives a message telling them both to get the bus into the city after school and meet his moms at the social services office. When they arrive Laura is waiting for them and takes them into one of the meeting rooms. Marie is already sitting there, chatting to Mr Woods, the guy who placed Keith with his last foster family. He smiles as he asks them to take a seat, but it's not the kind of pitying smile Keith expects to come with bad news. He feels a spark of hope struggling to ignite in his chest.

"Keith, you are very, very lucky. Under normal circumstances I don't think I could've pulled this off. But the desire to get you out of the system is working in our favour here. You know how this works - the older you get, the harder you are to place in a home. And with your history, that job just gets harder." Keith nods. He's lived with this inevitable reality his whole life. "So we really can't afford to say no to any offers we get."

"Wait, do you mean-?" Keith isn't sure what's going on.

"Apparently these two ladies want to offer you a home," Mr Woods says, gesturing to Marie and Laura. 

It takes a moment for that to sink in. Keith's breath catches awkwardly in his throat and he feels tears stinging his eyes. Laura reaches for his hand and he lets her take it. Hunk pulls him into a hug.

"That is, if you want it?" Mr Woods asks hopefully.

"Yes." The word comes out as a happy sob. "Yes, I do."

"There's still a lot of paperwork that needs sorting out before it's official. And understand that this lucky break comes with a warning. There are a lot of... _issues_ that the powers that be probably wouldn't have been willing to overlook under normal circumstances."

He's looking at Hunk, and Keith definitely catches his meaning. There's no way they would officially let the parents of someone he's dating foster him. They need to be careful. And there would probably have been more opposition to a same-sex couple fostering, too, had social services not been so desperate to get rid of him. He is _very_ lucky.

-

Since there are no spare rooms, Keith is told he can have half of Hunk's room. He really doesn't mind sharing. It's a very large room and even half of it is bigger than any bedroom Keith has ever had to himself. Hunk clears some space in the wardrobe and drawers for his clothes, and also leaves some bookshelves empty for him. But it's not like Keith has a lot of stuff. He sets the little clay lions that Hunk made for him on one of the shelves and puts up a couple of posters and then he's about done.

He's still getting used to the idea that this is actually reality.

"If you need space, just tell me," Hunk says, looking nervous. "'Cause I know I can be a little intense sometimes and I don't wanna crowd you or suffocate you or anything bad like that. If you need some alone time or the room to yourself, just say the word and I'm gone."

Keith is about to say that he can't imagine ever wanting to say the word, but then there's a gentle knock at the bedroom door and he turns to see Laura standing in the doorway. She has a large cardboard box in her arms, which she carries over and sets down on the bed. Peering inside, Keith lets out a rather undignified squeak of excitement.

The box is absolutely _full_ of candles. They're all different shapes and sizes and colours. Some are scented, some novelty ones shaped like animals or flowers, and some simply plain and functional. Keith feels giddy. Then Laura taps him on the shoulder to bring his attention back and holds out her hands to him, a silver lighter in one and a small box of matches in the other. Feeling overwhelmed, he begins to cry and Laura immediately wraps him up in a hug.

"I know, I know. But it's going to be OK now. We're going to take care of you."

"Thank you." Keith pulls back a little, sniffling. "Thank you _so much_."

-

It's Thursday night and Hunk is silently studying Keith while the two of them help clear up after dinner. It's been a week since he moved in and Hunk is still waiting for the bubble to burst. His moms assure him that the fostering process is on track, but Hunk's not going to be happy until he's seen a signed and sealed document stating in no uncertain terms that Keith can stay. That, and he's desperately worried that Keith is going to get sick of him.

Because now that they're together at school _and_ at home, Hunk is suddenly painfully aware that they've only known each other for a few months. Keith says he's lived with 'siblings' before in other foster families, but he and Hunk aren't brothers - they're dating. Or they were. Calling it 'dating' now that they live together seems kind of silly. Also now that there's no crisis to distract them, it's become blatantly obvious that neither of them is used to sharing a bed. Like, occasional sleepovers with Lance are one thing, but sharing your bed with another person on a nightly basis is quite another. Hunk is hyper-aware of the other next to him and it's almost impossible to relax. And judging by the amount of tossing and turning on the other side of the bed, Keith is having the same problem.

Hunk is almost relieved when the doorbell chimes, interrupting his thoughts.

"I got it!" Keith shouts as he goes to answer it. He's been extra keen in the last week to help out around the house, like he feels he has a debt to work off. Hunk listens for a clue as to who their visitor is.

"Oh, hey Keith. Is Hunk here? I gotta talk to him." 

Lance's voice carries along the hallway, but before Keith can answer or Hunk can get there, Lance is already standing in the kitchen doorway. Hunk frowns in concern when he sees the expression on his friend's face.

"What happened?"

"I broke up with Nyma," Lance breathes out quickly, like he's afraid he won't be able to get the words out. He lets the plastic bag he's carrying drop to the ground and runs a hand anxiously through his short hair. "I actually did it."

Hunk isn't really sure what to say, so he opts for the tried and tested hug-and-mumble-"I'm sorry"-into-their-shoulder manoeuvre. It seems to do the job, judging by the way Lance is holding onto him. Really, Hunk is happy for him. He never thought Nyma was good for Lance and he's sure that his friend is better off without her. But right now Lance is clearly hurting, so that's not what he wants to hear.

"Anyway..." Lance pulls away, trying to collect himself and reaching for the bag at his feet. "Tradition states that I should eat as much ice cream and watch as many action movies as possible in order to achieve a perfect balance been mopiness and manliness. Will you help me?"

"Yeah, of course!" Hunk assures him. "Whatever you need."

"Knew I could count on you, buddy. You handle the food and I'll go get things set up." He hands Hunk the bag and disappears into the living room. Hunk looks up to see Keith hovering awkwardly in the hallway.

"Uh, is that cool with you?" Hunk asks uncertainly.

"Sure," Keith says, but his smile is forced. That day spent actually hearing the thoughts behind Keith's expressions has given Hunk a great deal of insight into how to read him. On this occasion, though, he's just going to have to take Keith's word for it. Lance needs him right now.

A couple of hours later they're just starting on a second movie. Hunk is sitting with his arms resting on the back of the couch and Lance leaning against his side. A few months ago he might've been struggling with the temptation to take advantage of this situation, with his friend so close and in need of comfort. It'd be so easy just to lean down and kiss Lance. It's not like it would be the first time, either. Years back, when Hunk was trying to work up the courage to ask out his first proper girlfriend, Lance offered to help him practise kissing, "because girls don't like to be slobbered on". But now that he has a boyfriend, it's not hard to do the right thing.

After hearing the full story about the breakup, Hunk's actually kind of proud of Lance. He's never broken up with anyone before, it's always been someone breaking up with _him_ , so it must've taken a lot of courage for him to finally end it. And it seems like it ended well, or as well as it could've. Lance seems pretty tired now and it's late, so he's probably gonna end up staying the night. Hunk doesn't want to abandon him, but he's wondering if Lance would mind just sleeping on the couch on his own. He looks down at Keith, sitting on the floor at his feet. He'd really like to crawl into bed with that guy right now. A finger prodding at his belly brings his attention back to Lance. He holds up an empty ice cream carton.

"Oops, looks like we finished another one," Hunk says, adding the 'we' in an effort to hide the fact that he hasn't actually eaten much himself. "I'll be right back." He peels himself off the sofa and pads across to the kitchen. Opening the freezer, he pulls out another tub of ice cream, momentarily debating getting one for himself. Glancing back towards the living room and his friends, he frowns slightly. There's something wrong with this picture...

Then it hits him. God, he is the _worst_ boyfriend ever! The very first time Keith came to his house for dinner, Hunk asked him that all important question - "do you have any food allergies?" Yet somehow it slipped his mind that Keith, being lactose intolerant, can't actually eat regular ice cream. Lance can be forgiven for forgetting, especially under the circumstances, but Hunk has no excuse. He's been so focused on his own desires, when all the while Keith was being a true friend, putting Lance's comfort ahead of his own. Quickly Hunk starts rooting around in the freezer, until he finds what he's looking for. He grabs a clean spoon from the drawer and hurries back to the living room.

"Here you go," he says, handing Lance the first ice cream tub. Then he slides onto the floor next to Keith and holds out the second tub and fresh spoon to him, all the while keeping his eyes on the TV pretending to be caught up in the movie. He watches the reaction out of the corner of his eye and smiles when he sees Keith's eyes widen as he reads the label on the tub. Carefully he peels the lid off and digs out a spoonful, which he savours, slowly drawing the spoon out of his mouth. Hunk oh-so-casually puts an arm around his shoulders and Keith leans into him, humming happily to himself as he works his way through the rest of the dairy-free ice cream. 

-

Lance's cousin Benita has invited the circle to her wedding and while Pidge is looking forward to the event itself, she's considerably less enthusiastic about the dress code. 'Dress' being the operative word. Shiro manages to embarrass her in front of the others by recalling how she used to wear some "very pretty" dresses. _That_ was a long time ago. These days her wardrobe tends more towards the practical and comfortable, which often means items not necessarily intended for the female gender. Which is usually fine, but she doesn't really have anything suitable for a formal event.

Which means shopping.

Since Matt isn't around to accompany her and as penance for his earlier comment, Shiro gets to play substitute brother on this outing. Unlike Matt, she's pretty sure Shiro's not going to try on any dresses himself, but he can still provide a second opinion as well as some much-needed moral support. Of course they have to take the bus because neither of them can legally drive. The mall is a standard Saturday-level of overcrowded, but the formal wear store is pretty empty.

Pidge explains to the shop assistant that she's a little rusty in the dress-choosing department and could probably use some guidance. The assistant gives her an appraising look, then goes and picks out three options for her, suggesting that she try out a few different styles to see what works. Walking slowly towards the fitting room, Pidge casts her eye over the racks, just in case anything sticks out, and stops short when she spots something. Shiro, who's been sitting patiently and reading on his phone, looks up and follows the direction of her gaze.

"Why don't you try it on?"

"That's not really what we're here for," Pidge answers, biting her lip.

"I know, but it wouldn't hurt just to try it."

"... OK."

Pidge waves the shop assistant over and asks about sizing for the suit. She doesn't seem concerned about the change of style, smiling brightly and saying she'll just go and check if they have everything in a suitable size.

After a few minutes in the fitting room, two of the dresses have been discarded and one consigned to the 'tolerable' pile. The assistant returns just in time with the suit, plus a white shirt and green tie. She must have a good eye for sizes, because it all fits pretty well. Pidge takes a moment to assess herself in the mirror before emerging cautiously from the fitting room.

"So... what do you think?"

Shiro looks her up and down, and whistles appreciatively.

"I think it suits you. You look really handsome. Do you like it?"

"Yeah." Pidge nods, staring guiltily down at her feet.

"And you can afford it?" Shiro asks, getting up and walking over to her. "I mean, Lance said formal wear, but he never actually specified that you had to wear a dress."

"Do you think his family would be OK with it?"

Shiro gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, smiling.

"You look very smart. I can't imagine anyone's going to have a problem with that."

Pidge returns his smile, feeling a little giddy. Maybe this whole thing will actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

"Katie?"

At the sound of her mother's voice, Pidge freezes. She looks up just in time to see all the colour drain from Shiro's face.

"Takashi?" her father echoes.

"What are you doing here?" her mother demands, anger brewing in her eyes as she looks at Pidge.

"Mom, Dad, just let me explain-"

"You can explain in the car. Go get changed, we're going home."

"But-" Pidge looks despairingly between her parents and then back at Shiro, who looks utterly petrified.

"Mr Holt, Sam, please, I'm not-" he tries.

"I think it would be best if you left," her father responds tightly, not even looking at Shiro. He doesn't argue. Pidge watches him leave, wondering how she can possibly fix this.

-

As soon as they get home, Pidge sprints up the stairs to her room. After the ear-full she got in the car, she knows she's already so unbelievably grounded that there's no point trying to escape. She's just opened her laptop when her dad knocks quickly on her door before stepping into the room.

"OK, kiddo, hand it over. Your phone too." He holds out his hand.

"But Dad! What if I need to do homework?"

" _If_ you need to, then you can come downstairs and use my work laptop in the kitchen."

Pidge slumps, reluctantly closing her laptop and handing it to him.

"Can I at least text Lance to let him know I'm not going to the wedding?"

Her father sighs.

"Have you got Shiro's number on there?"

"Yes," Pidge admits quietly, looking down at her phone.

"Delete it and you can send _one_ text to your friends."

"But..."

"That's my best offer. What's it gonna be?"

Resigned, Pidge scrolls through her contacts to Shiro's name, holds up the phone so her dad can see, then presses her finger down on the contact and taps delete.

"Good girl."

She quickly types out a message to Hunk - _Parents found out about Shiro. They're not happy. Am grounded, possibly forever, so may be out of contact for a while. Tell Benita I'm sorry._ Then she hands over her phone and her dad leaves without saying anything more.

She stays in her room for as long as she can, trying to think of something to say that will actually get through to her mother. If she'd just _listen_ , maybe Pidge could explain what actually happened, why Shiro did what he did.

Dinner that night is agony. Pidge feels too sick to eat. The dog is freaking out because he can sense the fight they're going to have like it's an approaching storm. So Pidge's head is full of dog distress on top of everything else.

Then her mom surprises her by speaking first.

"How long has this been going on?"

She doesn't need to clarify what she means. Pidge takes a deep breath.

"Since May. I saw Shiro at school on Career Day. We talked afterwards, about what happened. Mom, it's not what you think. He didn't mean to-"

"Don't. Don't you dare make excuses for him."

"I'm not! But you should know why he did it-"

"It doesn't matter why!" Her mother is almost in tears. "Do you have the slightest idea- He hit your brother, Katie!"

Pidge swallows thickly. This is the ugly truth that she's conveniently shoved to the back of her mind. The context helps. She knows that Shiro would never ever do anything like that again. But she still remembers the ugly bruise on her brother's face, the look of horror in his eyes.

"I know. I just..." She doesn't know what to say.

"Do you have any idea how much it scared me to see you with him?"

"It's not- Shiro would never hurt me. He's-" She stops, seeing her mother's eyes widen in horror.

"No."

"Katie, you're _fifteen_!" her father cuts in, furious.

Oh god, they actually think that she and Shiro are-!

"I'm a witch!" she yells desperately. "I'm a witch and Shiro's a witch and we're both part of a circle and that's why I've been spending time with him."

The silence is deafening. Both her parents are just staring at her, anger stalled in favour of complete astonishment.

"You... You're a what?" her father finally asks.

"A witch. Just like Grandma Holt. Me, Hunk, Lance, Keith and Shiro, we all have power over different elements. Together we form what's called a circle. It gives us the power to-"

"I'm sure you _believe_ that. But do you hear how you sound right now? Those boys are all older than you. And Shiro, Shiro really should know better than to encourage this... this _delusion_."

"It's real!" Pidge practically screams, standing up so fast that her chair falls over. "God, Dad, have you never wondered how I can get flowers to grow out of season? Why animals come up to _me_ in the street, not the other way around? _Wild_ animals?!" Now that it's out there, she finally realises just how _sick_ she is of hiding it, of lying and covering and pretending like she doesn't know what's going on. "You never thought it was weird when Shiro was here and things moved around without anyone touching them? Or how he could go outside in the middle of a storm and his hair was barely ruffled? _None_ of this raised _any_ questions?!"

It's then that she realises, as her parents abruptly stand and back away, that she's levitated the pinewood dining table in front of her. It's a good foot off the ground now and still rising.

Panicking, she drops it. Plates and glasses smash on the tabletop and floor as they fall. Damage done, she runs back to her room.

-

Shiro appears completely taken by surprise when he answers his door to find Sarah Holt standing outside.

"Sarah, hi. What can I, uh, do for you?"

"I need a word with you, if you don't mind? May I come in?"

"Of course." Shiro steps aside to let her in, pressing himself against the wall of the narrow hallway so that she can get past. "The uh, kitchen's just at the end of the hall."

"Your friends came by to see me earlier. The rest of your er... circle," Sarah says as she steps into the kitchen. Shiro seems surprised at that too, judging by his expression, so presumably he didn't _ask_ for their help. "They wanted to appeal on your behalf, to make a case for you being able to see Katie again."

"I- OK, but they don't... I mean, I never told them..."

"They don't know that you hit Matt?" He nods, looking away from her guiltily. "Yes, I gathered that. But I also talked to Katie. She told me what you said to her, about what happened on Graduation Day. However badly you behaved, you were just trying to protect Matt."

"That still doesn't make it OK."

"No, it doesn't. It wasn't even _necessary_." Shiro looks at her questioningly. "You honestly think I would've let him join the Army?"

"I... I didn't know that you even knew what he was planning."

Sarah laughs humourlessly.

"Of course I knew. He's my son. I know he and Katie like to think that they operate in stealth mode, but I know a lot more about what they get up to than they think." She folds her arms across her chest, eyeing Shiro critically. "But apparently I don't know everything. This... witch thing, did Matt know about it?"

Shiro shakes his head quickly.

"No. No, I never told him. I never told anyone. My parents always told me that it was too dangerous, both for me and anyone I told. Matt had no idea. And I didn't know about Katie's powers either until Hunk told me."

"Yes, well, as I recall, you only had eyes for Matt back then." Shiro blushes and despite everything, Sarah feels a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "I think we made a mistake letting you two date in the first place. He was too young and you were still practically a child yourself. But after your dad died... You really needed Matt then."

"You _all_ supported me," Shiro corrects. "I don't know what I would've done without you and Sam there. You treated me like family, and I- I repaid you with-" He breaks down then, tears welling in his eyes, and Sarah quickly wraps him up in a hug, which he hesitantly accepts.

"Your father was killed in action, too?" she asks as she pulls back. Sam told her at the time and she'd actually considered reaching out to Takashi then, with Matt safely away at college, but ultimately anger had crushed the impulse.

"Yeah. And I almost followed in his footsteps."

Sarah takes a good look at him then, at the sleeve hanging loose over what's left of his right arm, the scar stretching across the breadth of his face, the stark contrast of white staining his otherwise jet black hair. He's far too young to look this old.

"I'm so sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. After all I've put you through... I understand if you don't want to have anything to do with me. And if you don't want me to be around Katie, then I'll keep my distance."

"Takashi, no. You made a huge mistake, but I'm confident that it'll never happen again. If Katie wants to spend time with you, then I'm OK with that. But beyond that... I'll need to talk to Matt first. He had a really hard time after you left and I don't want to reopen those old wounds. It's going to take time. You're going to have to be prepared to take things at whatever pace he can handle."

"I-That's absolutely fine. It's more than I deserve, really. Whatever he wants is fine with me."

"I also want to know more about this 'circle' of yours. It's obviously become a big part of Katie's life. Perhaps we could have coffee some time or something, and talk about it?"

"Of course. Anything you want to know."

"Thank you."

"Sarah, I just need you to know, I really am so sorry for what I did. Please tell Matt I'm sorry. I just want him to be OK."

"I'll tell him." Sarah finally smiles at him. "And he _is_ OK. He's tougher than he seems."

-

It's around 3am on Sunday morning when Shiro answers his door and stares down bleary-eyed at Pidge standing on his doorstep.

"Katie? What happened? Are you OK?"

"Yeah. Sorry, did I wake you?" Shiro shakes his head, fighting a yawn, and waves her inside. They go through to the bedroom and she sits down on the end of the bed.

"Uh, does your mom know you're over here right now? I know she said it was OK for me to see you, but it's kind of late. I don't want to get you in trouble..."

"Oh, it's OK," Pidge assures him. "I mean, Mom and Dad are away for the weekend and I didn't tell them I was coming over here, so technically they _don't_ know. But since they don't know they won't worry about it."

Shiro doesn't feel particularly reassured by that answer, but he's far too tired to argue, especially when he knows he'll most likely lose the argument anyway.

"So, what's up?"

"Nothing. I mean, I just..." She bites her lip. "This is stupid. I should go."

"No, it's OK," Shiro says, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Just tell me what you need."

"OK." She looks slightly guilty. "So, I couldn't sleep and I just thought maybe..." Shiro waits and she takes a deep breath. "After you... after you left, Matt was... He got depressed. Like, really depressed. Some days it was a struggle just for him to get out of bed. And you remember how we'd always watch a movie together as a family after dinner on a Saturday?" Shiro nods. He attended several such movie nights. "Well, sometimes Matt wouldn't make it down for dinner, but Mom would still ask me to go and check if he wanted to watch the movie. And he'd just be there, lying in bed with the covers pulled up to his chin. So I'd lie down next to him and just... talk. It was like a game. I'd just keep telling him stupid science jokes until I got him to smile or laugh or just give me some sign of life. Sometimes it would take all night just to get a reaction. If Mom or Dad came up to check on us before I was done, I'd just pretend to be asleep until they went away. Sometimes I actually _did_ fall asleep..." She looks up at him apologetically. "I told you it was stupid."

"It's not stupid," Shiro assures her. "You must really miss him."

"Yeah." Pidge nods, looking down at her hands resting in her lap.

"Look, I can't promise that I'll actually _get_ any of your science jokes, but you're welcome to stay if you want."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

He digs out an old t-shirt, which turns out to be plenty long enough for her to wear as a nightdress, and fetches a glass of water for her from the kitchen while she changes in the bathroom. He does his best to listen, but almost as soon as his head hits the pillow, he's out. 

At 7am his alarm goes off. He reaches out with his air hand to shut it off, willing his physical limbs to move. They refuse. With a groan, he forces his eyes open. Pidge is sound asleep on the pillow opposite him. She looks incredibly peaceful. With a smile, he carefully slides out of bed, turning to check that he hasn't disturbed her. Nope, still sound asleep. He drags himself through a quick shower and an even quicker breakfast, and leaves the spare key with a note on the kitchen table.

At work he keeps an eye on his phone, but no messages appear, and by the time his lunch hour rolls around he's starting to get a little anxious. He begs off a few extra minutes to make a quick trip home and hurries back to his apartment.

Pidge is sitting cross-legged on one of the chairs in the kitchen, poring over her laptop. She looks a bit sleepy but otherwise perfectly fine. Shiro sighs in relief.

"Oh, hey. I was gonna get you lunch, but then I realised I didn't know what you'd want. Or if you'd already packed a lunch. Or when you were coming back." She smiles sheepishly and pushes one of the brown paper bags on the table towards him. "Hopefully this is OK?"

Shiro knows it will be before he's even reached into the bag; the smell is amazing. Everything looks fresh - the bread, the veg, the meat. Despite having had a fair few home-cooked meals recently, courtesy of Hunk and Lance's parents, his love affair with real food has not abated. He takes a bite out of one sandwich and slumps in his chair, blissfully happy. They eat in silence for a while, with Shiro doing most of the eating and Pidge tapping away at her laptop keyboard. Then something occurs to him.

"Um, if you're here, who's taking care of Egghead?"

"Oh. No, he's OK," Pidge says, looking up from her screen quickly. "My parents took him to the dog minder's before they left. Mom said she wanted to make it easy for me, so I'd just have myself to look after."

"Phew. For a second there I was worried," Shiro says, smiling. "How's he doing these days?"

"Oh, y'know, he's the same dopey old dog. I've got pictures on my phone, if you wanna see?" She gets up and comes around the table, flicking through photos with her thumb. Shiro's smile widens when he sees a photo of the white bull terrier lolling on his back in Sarah's arms. "You should come by and take him for a walk some time. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you."

"I'd like that."

-

It's a Tuesday but the shop is closed for the day, so Shiro's decided to use the time to take Lance up on his offer of a picnic by the lake on the edge of town. It's a beautiful day, the sky bright blue and the clouds fluffy and white. Lying on his back on the picnic blanket, Shiro's enjoying the slight breeze. Lance has been telling him more about his family and now Shiro's returning the favour.

"You were an army brat? No way!" Lance gapes at him. Shiro chuckles.

"Yes way. My parents were both Army, that's how they met. I spent almost my entire childhood living on army bases."

"Wow. _Both_ your parents? What was that like?"

"Well, I never really knew anything else, so I don't know how different it was from the norm. My dad had to take time off to have me and he decided not to go back to the Army after, so technically he was a civilian while I was growing up. But he didn't really act like it. Looking back, though, I think it made his transition a lot easier."

"OK, I still can't believe you grew up on an _army base_ with a gay, trans dad."

"Yeah, I guess it does sound kind of unlikely," Shiro muses, studying the clouds thoughtfully. "I think them already being married with a kid made things easier, in some ways. Legally no-one could touch us, so long as my dad could put up with people misgendering him. It was very hard for him sometimes, but he had a very thick skin. Being a Japanese-American soldier in the US Army, he'd already had plenty of experience in fighting his corner."

"Was it... weird for you?" Lance asks tentatively. "Your dad becoming... someone else?" 

"Not really. I mean, I didn't really see it that way. I was six when my dad came out to me. And I'm sure my father must've already known. All I had to do was use different words - dad instead of mom, Sir instead of Ma'am. But he was still the same person. My parents were still my parents."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..." Lance looks embarrassed, his face flushing hotly. "That was a dumb thing to say."

"It's OK." Shiro places a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks for putting up with all my stupid questions," Lance says quietly. He looks into Shiro's eyes, like he's searching for something. Shiro goes still, waiting for him to find it.

Taking a breath, Lance surges forward to kiss him, but Shiro stops him short, his powers getting there before his physical hand can.

"What are you... What are you doing?"

Lance swallows nervously, his eyes locked on Shiro's once again. He's blushing brightly now.

"I... I thought that..."

Shiro sighs.

"Lance, don't get me wrong. I'm flattered. You're a great guy. But I don't think it's a very good idea for us to get involved like that." Lance looks crestfallen. "I've been involved with a younger guy before, with a much smaller age gap, and that didn't exactly work out so well. And even if that wasn't the case, I just don't think I'm ready for that sort of thing with _anyone_ right now."

"I'm sorry." Lance rolls onto his back, letting out a little huff of frustration, and looks up at the sky again. "It's just that now Hunk and Keith are, y'know, _together_ , I feel kind of left out. And I thought that you and I had a connection."

"We do," Shiro assures him. "It's just not that kind of connection. I don't mind you being... affectionate. But I don't want to be leading you on when it's not going to go anywhere and I know you want more. It's not fair to you."

"So... we can still cuddle?" Lance shoots a surreptitious glance at him.

"If you want. But don't torture yourself, OK?"

Lance nods.

"OK."

-

"Hey, Dad. Happy birthday." Shiro smiles fondly as he lays flowers on the grave. "I hope you don't mind me bringing a friend along. As it turns out, you guys actually have a lot in common."

He decided to visit on his dad's birthday rather than the anniversary of his death, preferring to focus on happier times instead of casting his mind back to the final days of his dad's struggle with cancer. Keith shuffles his feet and waves awkwardly at the headstone.

"Hi."

Ever since he found out that Keith's dominant element was Fire, Shiro's been keen to share memories of his dad with him. His dad was always his point of reference for dealing with his powers growing up. Keith actually reminds him a lot of him, which caused Shiro to speculate about certain personality traits going hand in hand with certain elements.

"Thanks for coming with me for this."

"You're welcome," Keith responds quietly. He's looking at the headstone rather than at Shiro. "Was he- Did he ever have accidents like I do?"

"Oh, yeah, all the time. Though it was usually my fault."

Keith turns and looks up at him, frowning in confusion.

"How come?"

"I gathered the oxygen that fuelled those fires," Shiro explains. "My dad had his powers pretty well under control by the time I was born, but as a kid I wasn't really aware of what I was doing. And a lot of the time I'd make it worse by trying to help put the fire out."

"Like what happened at school on Career Day."

"Exactly. Fire and Air can be a pretty volatile combination. My father used to joke that he loved his family and living dangerously, and that the two weren't necessarily mutually exclusive."

"But he wasn't a witch?"

"Not a natural one, no, but he still practised magic."

"People can do that?"

"Oh, yeah. Lance's dad's not a natural witch either. He told me it's pretty common in families where there are natural witches that those members without powers end up practising magic too."

"I didn't know that."

"It was my father who taught me how to cast proper spells, the kind that come with an ingredients list. Mostly first aid stuff, for quick healing in the field."

"So you actually used magic when you were a soldier?"

"Yes. Sometimes people would be sceptical about it, but at least I could use it openly, unlike my elemental powers."

"Did you ever use your powers at school to deal with bullies?"

The question catches Shiro a bit off-guard. He's not sure what prompted it, but he doesn't really need to ask to know that Keith has probably been in plenty of situations where he's been tempted to do exactly that.

"I did once or twice," he admits. "But never directly. I'd just mess with them a bit, moving things around with my powers and pretending to be a ghost." That makes Keith smile. "But most of the time I didn't need to defend myself. My parents were both pretty intimidating, not the sort of people you'd want to pick a fight with. And the other soldiers on whichever base we were living on at the time were usually quite protective of me. Once they got a load of them, most kids were smart enough to leave me alone."

"It's good to have family," Keith says, looking up at Shiro pointedly.

-

It's early on a Sunday morning when Shiro hears a knock at the door. Quickly wiping his hand on a rag, he goes to answer it. On his doorstep stands Hunk, clutching several bags and a toolbox in his hands.

"I brought my tools 'cause I wasn't sure what you had," he says cheerfully. "And a few snacks to keep us going." Shiro smiles, stepping aside so Hunk can get in and set his stuff down.

The apartment needs quite a lot of work and when Shiro mentioned it, Hunk immediately offered to come over and help. Having some company certainly makes the job a lot more pleasant.

Shiro doesn't realise until he mentions it that Hunk is half-Japanese on his mother Laura's side. It turns out that he speaks the language reasonably fluently, too. Hearing it reminds Shiro of his parents, and he thoroughly enjoys the conversation while they work.

It's been dark for a while when they finally decide to call it a day. Their supply of snacks has long since run out and Shiro's stomach has joined in with the growling of Hunk's. Shiro looks around at the scattered debris of shredded wallpaper and paint-chips, wondering how long it will take to clean up and feeling a twinge of regret at having chosen a Sunday to start the work. Regardless, they're unlikely to accomplish much of anything now until they've had something to eat.

"Um, is takeout gonna be OK?" he asks, heading in the direction of the kitchen.

"Takeout is _always_ OK," Hunk answers with a smile. "And I know the best place. Really fast service. If you're cool with me ordering?" He's already fishing his phone out of his pocket.

"As long as it's edible, it's fine by me." When it comes to food, Shiro has learned to trust Hunk's judgement.

"Great. I'll just give 'em a call and- Oh, hey, I almost forgot!" Shiro turns, frowning, to see Hunk returning to where he left his bags in the hallway, just inside the front door. He picks up a carrier bag and hands it to Shiro. "I made you something. A little house-warming present. I know you moved in a while ago, but it wasn't actually ready then, so..."

Curious, Shiro takes the bag and carries it through to the kitchen, setting it down carefully on the table before he opens it. Peeling away layers of bubble-wrap, he lifts out the little sculpture and places it on the table.

"Wow."

"It's a guardian lion," Hunk explains. "I wanted to make a guard dog, y'know, to protect your home. But while I was researching door guardians I came across these and Keith thought you'd like it. Not technically a dog, but it should still protect you from evil spirits and stuff. Keith helped with the firing, too. His temperature control is really good now after all the time you spent working on it with him."

"Thank you, I love it," Shiro says, running his fingers over the little statue's mane. "My father used to call them _komainu_. He used to point them out to me whenever he saw one."

"I know they're supposed to come in pairs, but the second one isn't quite finished yet," Hunk adds apologetically.

"So I still have something to look forward to," Shiro says, smiling. He pulls Hunk into a hug. It's a very thoughtful gift and one that Hunk clearly put a lot of work into. Since joining the circle, Shiro's come to realise that there's a lot more to it than just magic. Keith's right - it really is good to have family.


	3. You're lamb and serpent just like me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) In this chapter, warnings for - discussion of murder and mutilation, wiccaphobia, bullying/threats of violence, actual violence, fire/people being on fire, earthquakes, and briefly wasps.  
> 2) Thanks again to [Rhi](http://thebonepilot.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing this chapter and helping me improve my writing further.  
> 3) If you enjoy the story, please leave a comment and let me know which aspects or scenes stood out for you.

"OK, I've got a ten-minute break, which means ten minutes _only_ ," Shiro warns as he steps out into the alleyway behind the shop. "What's up?"

Pidge takes a deep breath before she speaks. Shiro is already getting a sinking feeling that he's not going to like what she has to say. He's pretty sure she should be in school right now, too, but he really doesn't have the energy to argue that point. 

"I need you to steal something from the morgue."

Shiro's eyes widen.

"No. No way. I'm not doing that."

"But you're the only one whose powers won't leave a trace!" Pidge whines insistently. "You won't even need to go inside. There's a window overlooking the-"

"I don't like this," Shiro cuts her off, anxiously running his hand through his hair. "This isn't like making it snow in summer or cheating on a test at school. These are powerful forces we'd be messing with. It's _dangerous_."

Pidge has been like a dog with a bone ever since the first body was discovered. The cops tried to keep the details quiet, but a murder is a big deal in a small town like this and word spread fast; pretty soon the whole town was talking about it. The killer wasn't exactly tidy about it - certainly no surgeon - but there were specific organs missing from both the victims' bodies, which suggested something ritualistic. The words 'serial killer' were being bandied about even before the second victim was found.

Pidge wants to know if there's going to be a third. _Before_ it happens.

Obliging as always, Hunk helped her comb through all the spell books they had access to, searching for a way they could get a glimpse of the future. They found a spell to suit their purpose and most of the ingredients they need for it are easy to get a hold of, but something like this requires the full power of the circle - all five of them.

Despite helping to find the spell, Hunk was hesitant at first, reluctant to get involved in anything involving a potential serial killer. But eventually Pidge convinced him that the chance to prevent another needless death was worth the risk. Keith was very much in favour of Pidge's plan from the get-go, so once Hunk caved there was really nothing holding him back. And Lance's competitive streak wouldn't let him back down if Keith was in, which left Shiro as the only hold-out.

"It's not like we're going to _change_ anything," Pidge continues, trying to convince him. "We're just gonna take a peek a few days ahead. All I need is a part of the most recent victim so that we have a starting point to focus us."

Shiro sighs. He wants to be the voice of reason here - he _should_ be - but he can already feel his resolve wavering. Maybe he's just weak-willed when it comes to Holts; he recalls that Matt also had a way of turning his 'no's into 'yes's.

And that's not such a pleasant train of thought. He shakes his head in an effort to clear it.

He gives up. 

"Any particular part?"

-

"Oh _man_ , this smells bad." Lance wrinkles his nose, eyeing the mixture in his glass with suspicion.

"Just be glad there aren't any corpse parts in there," Hunk says, before holding his nose and downing the contents of his own glass in one go like he's doing a shot.

Lance looks down at the severed finger sitting unassumingly on a plate in the middle of their circle, feeling anything _but_ glad. Across the circle, Shiro's face is pointedly composed. Next to him, Keith looks like he's fighting the urge to vomit.

"Once you've drunk it, you need to stick your finger in the dregs, like this," Pidge instructs, reaching into her own glass, "and smear it over both your eyelids."

"Gee, if I'd known we were doing make-up tutorials, I would've brought my nail varnish collection."

"Lance!" Shiro snaps suddenly, making them all jump.

 _Damn_ , Shiro is not a happy panda. Lance can feel the tension from where he's sitting, even though they're not even touching. He immediately regrets his comment, but deflecting with humour is just his natural reaction to this whole messed up situation.

"We all agreed to do this," Shiro continues more gently after a moment. "Let's just get it over with as quick as we can."

Chastened, Lance drinks down his glass as quickly as he can and paints his eyes. Pidge takes a quick look around the circle to make sure everyone is ready.

"OK, now join hands, close your eyes, and _focus_."

Lance closes his eyes. For a few moments, nothing happens. He can feel the power of the circle flowing through him from Keith's hand through to Hunk's. He tries to picture the severed finger, sitting there on the plate in the middle of the living room like a crappy offering to some really lame deity. This whole situation just really sucks, he decides. Why can't this stupid killer go commit their stupid murders in some other town?

Then the vision hits and he gulps in a shocked breath.

He sees the second victim's body lying in the alley, amongst the trash cans and dead leaves. And then it's like someone fast-forwarding a video taken with a Go-Pro, images flicking past as his view moves around town. Things snap back into focus as another body drops down into the green grass of the park near the centre of town. Lance tries to focus on the details, to memorise the scene, but the fast-forward starts up again and before he can react he's looking at a different scene, a different location. A different body. And a moment later, another.

-

"We have to stop this from happening!" Keith insists, following Shiro through to the kitchen. "We need to find this person right now and-and-" He stops, casting about for the right words.

"We need to find some evidence that we can turn over to the police," Shiro responds calmly, turning to face him and leaning back against the kitchen counter. "We shouldn't be confronting this person directly."

"That's _exactly_ what we need to do! Don't you think if there _was_ anything that could identify the killer, the cops would've found it by now? By the time they've figured it out and got a case together, three more people could already be dead. _We_ have the power to end this now, before anyone else gets hurt!"

"No." Shiro is shaking his head. "We shouldn't be getting involved. Whoever this person is, they-"

"We can't just do nothing!" Keith snaps angrily. They both startle as the lights flicker and the microwave beeps. Shiro looks away from him quickly.

This has been happening a lot since they started back at school. Keith never really noticed it before, except for when he first kissed Hunk. Although maybe that's just because he was too busy dealing with the fires to notice. Shiro says that it's normal, that Keith's powers should extend to manipulating electricity. Yet another thing to add to the long list of things he didn't know about himself! He's getting a little sick of self-discovery at this point.

"Are you guys OK in there?" Hunk calls from the living room.

"We're fine, Hunk," Shiro responds.

Keith frowns, a thought forming in his mind.

"When you were a soldier, did you ever use your powers to fight?"

Shiro stiffens, the knuckles on his hand whitening as he grips the edge of the kitchen counter, and he stays quiet for a long moment.

Keith is just about to speak again when Shiro finally answers quietly, "Yes."

"So we can-"

"No."

"But-"

" _No_. Keith, that's not... It's not something I want you - _any_ of you - to ever have to go through."

Keith really wants to argue the point, but the look in Shiro's eyes is begging him not to press it further. Clearly something happened while he was in the Army that's left him uneasy about using his powers to fight. And Keith _does_ understand that. He knows what it's like to be afraid of your own abilities, afraid you might hurt someone. It's why he's never deliberately lashed out with his powers, even when he really wanted to, even when it might've stopped him from getting hurt. But this person is a _killer_. If hurting them means saving innocent lives, then Keith thinks it might be worth making an exception for.

But Shiro clearly doesn't agree. Earlier he said that they should decide together, by putting it to a vote. But with Hunk and Lance not wanting to get involved, and Keith and Pidge wanting to take action, Shiro got the deciding vote. So ultimately it was still his decision. It's not fair.

"I'd better get going," Shiro says, straightening, "I'm gonna be late for work." He places his hand on Keith's shoulder as he passes. "I'm sure there's something we can do to help. Just... give me time to think, OK?"

-

Normally at this time of year Lance would be feeling excited about Halloween only being a few weeks away, but right now his faith in humanity is at an all-time low. A third body was found a few days ago, at the park just like he saw in the vision. He had to get up early this morning to help his mom clean some weird graffiti off the side of their house. On his way to school a bunch of kids half his age started yelling at him for no apparent reason other than to be assholes. And having arrived at school, he finds a teacher rifling through his locker. Apparently they're searching all the lockers, after the cops got some anonymous tip from a 'concerned citizen'.

But not all the lockers have supplies for spells in them.

Of course, Lance's does. His dad actually insists upon him having a little 'emergency supply kit' with him at all times, just in case. It's nothing dangerous; just a few herbs, some dried flowers, small animal bones. He knows how it looks to a non-witch cop, though, so he's not the least bit surprised to hear the Tannoy call for him to report to the principal's office.

They ask him lots of questions about drugs and devil worship. He lies through his teeth, says he's holding stuff for a friend from out of town, pretends that he doesn't know what it's for. Eventually they get bored and let him go, but they won't let him have his stuff back and make it clear that they'll be keeping an eye on him.

When he gets to class, he sinks down into his seat and opens his textbook, for once actually welcoming the distraction of schoolwork. But it seems he doesn't even get to enjoy that. He can hear someone behind him, whispering and giggling. And then the _flick_ of a lighter.

"Hey Lance!" He pretends not to hear. "Hey freak, I'm talking to you!"

Lance takes a moment to rein himself in before turning around. The guy is right behind him, the lighter's flame dangerously close to Lance's back. He flinches and several kids snicker.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to play with fire?" he says as calmly as he can. It's not really up to his usual standard of comeback, but he's having such a shitty day that he really can't find it in him to care.

"You scared I'm gonna burn you, _witch_?"

Lance's eyes narrow and he turns more fully in his chair, so that he can look the guy in the eye. Without looking away, he closes his thumb and forefinger around the lighter's flame, snuffing it out with Water. The whispers and giggles abruptly stop. The would-be witch burner stares at him in horror.

"Hey Lance, c'mere a minute!"

He looks up to see Nyma extending her hand to him. He takes it, picks up his bag, and lets her lead him out of the classroom. Once they're in the hallway and she releases his hand, he leans against the wall, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"What's up?" he asks warily.

"Are you OK? What are you even doing at school?"

Nyma looks equal parts annoyed and concerned, folding her arms across her chest.

"I... Why wouldn't I be here?"

"Because people are freaking out!" She leans in a little, lowering her voice. "If I were you, I'd have called in sick today. There's a rumour going around that the murderer is a... _you know_." She looks at him pointedly.

Of course he's told her that he's a witch. He's told a lot of girls, and a few guys too. Nature gave him a natural advantage, so why wouldn't he use it to flirt?

"It's getting really nasty," Nyma says quietly. "I was worried about you."

"Well, thanks," Lance says, flashing her a dashing smile, "but I can take care of myself."

Even so, he doesn't go back to class, heading outside instead.

What's he supposed to do now? Should he call his parents? Or maybe Shiro? He pulls his phone out of his pocket but then he catches sight of Pidge sitting on one of the stone benches off to his left. She's got a book in hand, obviously reading, but there are three older boys standing around her. As Lance moves closer, he catches some of their conversion.

"-never gonna get a boyfriend unless you make an effort."

The guy reaches out to grab the bottom of Pidge's shirt, but she smacks his hand with the book. The other two just laugh.

"Look out, she's gonna turn you into a toad!"

Lance has heard enough. He's about to head over, but stops when he notices something strange about the air surrounding Pidge. It's rapidly filling up with insects. And not just any insects, he realises - _wasps_. Pidge opens her book again and goes back to reading. At first the boys don't seem to notice the gathering swarm. By the time they do, it's too late.

They soon start screaming, flailing around uselessly in the cloud of wasps, struggling to get away. Lance stands back and watches. He's finding it hard to feel any sympathy.

-

Keith is starting to think he might be in love with Hunk. Although they've only been dating for a few months, being part of the circle together and then literally living together has made things between them feel very intimate very quickly. Of course, there are limits. Keith gets to wake up next to Hunk every morning, but they still shower and get dressed separately. Hunk's moms are pretty chill about their relationship generally, but Keith understands that that relaxed attitude comes with the trust that they won't abuse the privilege.

Actually, he's been kind of relieved to find that Hunk is generally happy to take things slow too. It seems like they're quite evenly matched in terms of what they want, which is as much making magic as it is making out. Though more recently it's felt like the lines have blurred between the two.

Since Keith moved in, he and Hunk have had the chance to do a lot more spells together, just the two of them. As much as Keith enjoys the feeling of the circle's energy flowing through him, the sheer power of their combined elements, when it's just him and Hunk it's... something else.

It actually scares him how good it feels.

The last couple of days have been kind of hellish, so tonight Keith has finally decided to take Hunk up on his offer to teach him pottery. Hunk says it helps him relax when he's stressed, so Keith figures it's worth a try. Hunk's set up the potter's wheel in their bedroom with a couple of stools so that they can sit together. Keith is in front, with his back up against Hunk's chest and belly. He's borrowed one of Hunk's old shirts, so his own clothes don't get covered in clay. But it's a little big for him and has slipped off one shoulder, where Hunk's now resting his chin. His hands are guiding Keith's to curl around the would-be pot and gently but firmly shape it.

It's actually a lot harder than it looks to get the clay to do what he wants. But honestly, Keith doesn't really care about the pot. He _is_ relaxing, but that's as much to do with Hunk's hands as it is the clay held in Keith's own.

Once he thinks Keith has got the hang of it, Hunk releases his hands, fingers moving along Keith's arms, gently cupping his elbows before dropping to his waist. Keith bites his lip as they move underneath his shirt and over his belly. Hunk softly kisses the side of his neck just at the spot where it joins his shoulder, murmuring something that Keith can't quite make out.

He tips his head to the side to give Hunk better access, all the while trying to focus on keeping the clay structure in his hands from collapsing. He can feel the magic rising inside of him, mixing with Hunk's. It feels so warm and wonderful. It's like savouring the taste of your favourite food in your mouth, or sinking into a hot, sweet-smelling bath after a long day, or the feeling of a cat's soft fur under your fingers, or hearing the part of a song that makes your chest fill up with pure emotion. It's all of those things rolled into one, like every pleasant sensation you've ever felt with any of your senses coalesced into a single intense feeling of bliss.

It's _terrifying_ , which is why every time that he's felt it before, Keith has put a stop to it - let go, moved away, broken the spell somehow. But this time he doesn't want to stop. Hunk's arms tighten around him and he's breathing hard as he trails more kisses over Keith's neck and shoulders.

And it's then that Keith realises there are too many hands on him. Feeling a spike of panic, he quickly looks down as his arms and hands, but there's nothing there. Then it hits him - the clay. He's covered in it. It's smeared all over his skin everywhere Hunk's hands have been. And he's controlling it, working through it, so that it feels like the clay itself is caressing Keith's skin. He whimpers, overwhelmed by sensation, and his fingers curl in, piercing the sides of the clay pot and crushing the structure in his grip. There's no way he's going to stop now.

-

"Man, that must've been one really _hot_ make-out session."

Hunk is really regretting telling Lance about the burns. He was hoping his friend might be able to help him make sense of what happened last night. He knows that, in his eternal quest to discover the key to a girl's heart, Lance has done a bit of research into... that sort of thing. That, plus the fact that Lance has much more experience of interacting with other witches than either Shiro or Pidge, makes him the closest thing Hunk has to an expert on the subject.

But Lance didn't actually have any answers for him. And instead of being sympathetic, he just thinks the situation is hilarious. Hunk can feel his face turning red. He tries to pull his sleeves down further over his hands.

"Leave him alone, Lance. Can't you see he's already all _hot and bothered_."

Hunk turns to glare at Pidge over his shoulder. She's not helping either. It really _isn't_ very funny. The quake that Hunk made set off all the car alarms on his street. And Keith managed to knock out the power for not just their house but several of their neighbours' too. He was completely mortified. He disappeared as soon as they arrived at school this morning, mumbling something about needing to visit the bathroom, and Hunk hasn't seen him since. He's starting to get worried.

His phone vibrates and he quickly opens the new text. He reads it a couple of times, frowning, then gets up and makes his way to the classroom door, ignoring the teacher's calls to explain himself. He hurries down the hall to where his and Keith's lockers are. His boyfriend is standing in front of them, his face ashen. As Hunk draws closer, he finally sees why.

Carved in jagged letters on the door of Keith's locker are the words 'BURN WITCH BURN'.

-

Shiro hangs up and hefts his cellphone in his hand, working his thumb over the keys as he tries to gather his thoughts. He didn't check his phone all day, only remembering it once he got back to his apartment, only to find a slew of messages from Hunk, Keith, Pidge and Lance. He called Hunk straight back, since he was the one most likely to know the status of the others. They're all OK, for now at least, but it seems like it's been another difficult day.

After the third victim was found, minus their lungs, things started to get ugly. It's not just that the others are getting bullied at school; the whole town seems to have been taken over with anti-witch sentiment. Shiro's noted the graffiti on fences and walls ('burn in hell witch'), and the dirty looks being directed his way. A couple of his co-workers at his day job have started actively avoiding him.

He thought he was being careful, but spending so much time around other witches he's grown complacent and gotten lazy about hiding his powers. He's used to relying on people not believing their eyes, but it's not just his own abilities that he needs to keep hidden now. People have noticed _who_ he's spending his time with, and Hunk and Lance in particular are not accustomed to hiding who they are.

Now it feels like things are escalating even further, the panic of the townsfolk reaching a fever pitch, and Shiro is very, very worried about his friends. He doesn't really have time to process, though, since he needs to get ready for his next shift and he hasn't eaten yet. 

He hurries through to the kitchen and opens the fridge, hoping to find something relatively quick to prepare or that he can maybe eat while running for the bus. When a knock comes at the door he stiffens, immediately on alert, straining his ears for any sounds of danger. For a moment everything is quiet, and then there's another knock. Returning to his front door, he takes a deep breath and braces himself before he opens it.

When he sees who's standing on his doorstep, his heart nearly skips a beat.

"Matt?"

"... Hey." Despite being the instigator, Matt looks about as shellshocked as Shiro feels. "Can I... Can I come in?"

Shiro steps aside, ushering him in without hesitation and giving the street a quick once over before he shuts the door. Matt is looking him up and down, no doubt taking in the scars and his missing arm. He looks very sad.

"I- I'm-"

"Guess this was always going to be awkward," Matt says quietly, shoving his hands into his jeans back pockets and looking down at his sneakers. "I got your address from Mom. She told me about... what happened. What you told Katie."

Shiro swallows thickly.

"Do they know you're here?"

"Yeah. It's OK." Matt sneaks a quick look up at him before dropping his gaze again.

"I-" _I'm sorry. I missed you. I'd give anything just to touch you right now, but I know I don't have the right._

"Is it OK with you?"

"Yes." Shiro's voice almost breaks then and the word comes out as almost a sob. "Sorry, I'm being rude. Do you- Can I get you anything? To drink or-?"

"Have you got any juice?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." Shiro almost laughs in relief at the simple question. "The kitchen's this way."

Matt takes at seat at the little kitchen table while Shiro pours the juice. He tries to keep his hand from shaking as he sets the glass on the tabletop.

"How long have you been back in town?" Matt asks, taking a sip and glancing around at his surroundings. He's basically looking anywhere but at Shiro.

"Uh..." Shiro actually has to think for a moment. "About a year? I think? I was uh, staying at the base for a while when I first got back. One of the apartments was empty and they agreed to look the other way until I could work something out."

"That's good."

"How's college?"

Matt opens his mouth to answer but then there's a loud crash as something smashes through the kitchen window. Shiro moves instinctively, reaching out with his air hand to push Matt out of harm's way and dropping to the floor. He doesn't even realise he's been hit by the falling glass until Matt says, "Shiro, you're bleeding."

"What? Oh." He touches his hand to his forehead without thinking then stares blankly at his bloody fingers.

"Here, let me see." Ignoring the broken glass, Matt scoots over and gently places his hands on Shiro's head. He examines the wound carefully and his shoulders relax. "It doesn't look too bad. What the hell was that?"

"I don't know."

Shiro looks over at where the object's landed. Before he can stop him, Matt reaches out to retrieve it. It's a brick, wrapped in a piece of paper secured by an elastic band. Pulling it free, Matt holds it up to read what is obviously a note. He turns the paper so that Shiro can see.

Scrawled across it is 'GET OUT WITCH YOUR NOT WANTED HERE'.

"Shiro?" Matt's looking at him with an expression that's equal parts fear and confusion. "What's going on?"

"I need to tell you something. Please don't-"

They both jump when Shiro's phone goes off. His supervisor wants to know why he hasn't shown up. Shiro tells him that he's sick and isn't going to make it, then hangs up quickly before he can argue. He takes Matt through to the bedroom, which doesn't have any windows, then returns to the kitchen to quickly sweep up the worst of the glass using his powers.

Then, taking a deep breath to steel himself, he goes back to the bedroom and tells Matt everything, starting with a heartfelt apology for hurting him and an explanation for why he did it. He describes the loss of his father, his own injury and subsequent discharge from the Army, then tries to explain about the circle, his and Katie's powers. He finishes by summarising the recent murders and the current situation.

Once he's done talking, he waits anxiously for Matt to respond.

Finally Matt stands and, without saying a word, closes the distance between them and hugs him tightly. Hesitantly, Shiro brings his hand up to rest on his back, letting out a shaky breath that he didn't realise he'd been holding. They stay like that for a long time.

-

In the run-up to Halloween, Lance has been inviting them all over every night for a little horror movie education. There's a real sense of safety in numbers right now, so Hunk is glad that they're all together. With the help of the rest of the circle his burns are healing faster than they would naturally, though not fast enough to avoid a very awkward conversation with his mom. At least he now knows what's going on and that it's normal. Or normal for witches, anyway.

Turns out when two witches 'love each other very much' and do a lot of spell-work together that involves conducting each other's magic through their bodies, so that those magics get mixed up together, it can result in certain... pleasurable sensations. On the plus side, it's not like they have to worry about bodily fluids or STDs. However, Keith's element is _Fire_ and Hunk is definitely _not_ fireproof. He's going to have to figure out some safety measures before they try anything like that again.

Returning from the kitchen with a fresh bowl of popcorn, he pauses to observe the others. Shiro is asleep at the end of one of the couches. The only reason he has the time to be there is because he got fired from his night job, but even working fewer hours he still seems quite exhausted. Pidge is curled up at his side, tucked under his arm, with Lance's cat sitting on her lap. Lance and Keith are sitting together on the other couch. They've closed the gap between them that Hunk left vacant and are now snuggled together with a blanket draped around them. Keith's putting on a brave face but every time the music booms with a jump-scare he grips Lance's arm tightly.

Honestly, Hunk is torn right now between the desire to just stand there and admire this rather attractive scene from afar, and the oh-so-tempting idea of getting right in the middle of that snuggle pile. The conflict must show on his face because Pidge looks up and narrows her eyes at him suspiciously. She's totally on to him.

He really is glad that his best friend and his boyfriend are getting along so well, though. Given their opposing elements, it hardly surprised Hunk that they weren't instant bosom buddies. But he wants them _both_ in his life, and his circle, so he's definitely happy to see that their tolerance for one another is increasing.

The movie ends ominously with the implication that the ghost is still active and just waiting for the next victim. The credits roll, and Lance stretches and reaches for the remote.

"And now for the sequel!" he says brightly. "That is, if Keith's not too scared?"

"What?" Keith splutters. "I'm not scared!"

"Suuure. You keep telling yourself that, scaredy cat."

"I'll show you scared!"

And just like that, the spell is broken. Hunk sighs and hurries over to intervene before they can start physically fighting. Keith allows himself to be restrained and pulled onto Hunk's lap, but he continues to glare daggers at Lance, who's laughing.

"Mmwhasat?" Apparently the noise has woken Shiro. He looks around him, noting the credits on the screen. "Is it finished?"

"Yep," Pidge answers, looking up at him.

"Did any of them survive?" Shiro asks, yawning.

"Nope." Pidge shakes her head. Shiro's shoulders slump.

"That's depressing. What time is it?" Pidge holds up her phone before Shiro can get to his. He frowns. "Uh, I should probably get going..."

"But it's _early_ still," Lance insists, "and we have a lot of movies to get through before the party!"

"Uh... party?" Shiro asks warily.

"Sorry, I was assuming Hunk would've filled you in by now. You're all invited to my family's Halloween party!"

Keith turns his head to look at Hunk. He looks excited. Shiro, on the other hand, looks kind of worried.

"I thought they decided to ban Halloween this year? There was a town meeting or something?"

Hunk sighs. There _was_ a gathering at the town hall, following the discovery of a fourth murder victim, where 'the town' decided that there should be no Halloween celebrations this year. The justification given was that it was out of respect for the victims and their families, but it was pretty clear to Hunk exactly who the ban was really aimed at.

"Pssh! That just means no trick or treating," Lance says, waving his hand dismissively. "They can't tell us what to do in our own homes. It's a private party on private property; nobody's business but ours."

"Uh..." Shiro still looks kind of nervous. "Well, I guess if your parents think it's OK..."

"You have to go," Pidge says matter-of-factly. Shiro blinks rapidly. "If you're there, then my parents will let me go."

Shiro opens his mouth to protest but Pidge is giving him the puppy dog eyes. No-one can say 'no' to that face, not even Shiro. Last Halloween Hunk and Lance had only recently befriended Pidge, and her parents weren't all that keen on her going off to some party with a couple of older boys. Hunk told her about it afterwards and she'd been really disappointed that she'd missed it.

It's not like the parties are really all that wild, though. Hunk has been attending them since he and Lance were kids, and Lance's whole family will be there, including his little brother and sister and some of their younger cousins. It's pretty family-friendly stuff, at least by witch standards.

"And my family _really_ want to meet my whole circle," Lance chips in. "You guys wouldn't wanna disappoint them, right?"

Keith certainly looks keen and Pidge has obviously made up her mind. Hunk offers Shiro a reassuring smile. He's probably right that they're going to ruffle a few feathers, but Lance is also right that the rest of the town has no business telling them what to do.

-

The shower in Shiro's apartment leaves a lot to be desired. Pidge has only used it once, after one of the circle's spells got a bit messy, but it left enough of an impression on her that she can understand why Shiro always takes his time in the bathroom at her house.

He's been staying with her family since the whole brick-through-window incident. She didn't even have to make a case for it, her parents just insisted. Matt could only stay for another day before he had to go back to college, but that was actually kind of a relief. His interactions with Shiro are still painfully awkward. Which is to be expected, she supposes, but at least they did get a chance to talk. Or rather Matt talked and Shiro listened. It must have been hard for him to hear, but not nearly as hard as it was for Matt to live it.

Outside the bathroom she hesitates a moment, listening to the sound of the shower running, before rapping loudly on the door.

"You can't stay in there all night, you know!" she calls. "I _can_ navigate that bathroom with my eyes closed. I _will_ come and drag you out if I have to."

Shiro doesn't respond but after a moment she hears the water stop. There's a bit of shuffling around, then approaching footfalls, before he cautiously opens the door.

"Something I can help you with?" He looks vaguely amused.

"I need to talk to you."

He raises an eyebrow in question but when she doesn't elaborate he opens the door wider to let her in. With a quick glance down the hall to check for parents, she darts inside the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind her.

Shiro walks back to stand in front of the sink, towelling off his hair as he goes. Which looks a little surreal because he's using his invisible air hand and arm. Pidge tilts her head to the side, studying him.

She's never really looked at him like this before. But now that he's wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, she can see that his right side is heavily scarred. And the marks aren't jagged lines or little clusters of scar tissue, like she figures you'd get from knife wounds or bullet holes. It's more like... a smattering of discoloured skin and scattered indentations. It makes her wonder exactly what caused it...

Then he turns and offers her a sheepish, almost apologetic grin and she feels her face flush with embarrassment.

"So... how's it going with my brother?"

The grin immediately fades and he looks away.

"Uh... well, since he went back to college we haven't really..."

"Shiro," Pidge says carefully like she's talking to a child, "you've been using my laptop to chat to him. You don't think I know what goes on on my own computer?" Shiro blanches at that and she rolls her eyes. "Which means I know it's nothing like _that_... ew."

Yes, she read some of their chat logs, but only to make sure everything was OK. At this point she's feeling quite protective of both of them. When he left for college, Matt seemed like he was still processing everything, and Shiro just looked kind of broken. Honestly, Pidge was kind of worried about them both.

"It's... going OK. I mean, we're talking. He wants to talk to me. So that's good."

She almost wants to press him for more details, but then maybe there's not really any more to say. It's early days yet and she can't expect them to just work it out overnight. But she will be incredibly glad when they finally get out of this awkward limbo.

Shiro's checking himself in the mirror, rubbing his fingers over the stubble on his chin and grimacing.

"Leave the stubble," Pidge says quickly. "Zombies don't shave."

It's Halloween night and Shiro has agreed to let her make him up like a zombie soldier for Lance's Halloween party. She was really excited about it, but after seeing the scars she's now wondering if it might be hitting a little too close to home. But Shiro wouldn't have said it was OK if he didn't want to do it, right?

"They probably don't shower either. Maybe I could go as some new breed of really considerate, well-groomed zombie?"

Pidge snorts in amusement, rolling her eyes to cover her nervousness.

"Just hurry up. Good zombie makeup takes time."

"Well, maybe if you'd leave me alone for a minute, I could get dressed."

"You know," Pidge says, touching her fingers to her chin and pretending to look thoughtful, "if we're going with the Russo version, zombies aren't necessarily that bothered about clothes either..."

"Out!" Shiro orders, laughing. Pidge sticks her tongue out at him, then quickly retreats when he throws a washcloth at her.

-

Her mom insists on driving them to the party, even though they're happy to walk. She seems less worried about the party itself and more about their neighbours seeing them dressed up for Halloween. She comments on how Pidge's costume looks 'very realistic'. Pidge is not about to tell her just _how_ realistic, though. Since she's 'out' now to her parents, she wanted to try something a bit more adventurous than just a simple glamour and having Shiro there helped to boost her power.

When she searched online for pictures of dryads, she was immediately confronted by lots of images of bared breasts and leaf bikinis. Pidge's definition of 'forest nymph' is a little more old school. Her actual outfit is all black; just a long-sleeved shirt, leggings and combat boots. But the leafy vines curling around her limbs and torso are actually growing out of her skin, and the little antlers poking out of her hair are actually attached to her skull. Of course, when the sun comes up it'll all be gone.

The front door opens just as they're walking up to it, revealing Lance's little brother and sister, Henry and Adela, dressed as an angel and a devil respectively. Shiro was worried that some of the smaller kids might find his makeup too scary, but as soon as they clap eyes on him both children gasp, "Cool costume, Shiro!"

"Thanks, guys." Shiro smiles nervously. "Pidge did the makeup for me."

"Can I touch it?" Henry asks, pointing at the fake gore hanging from Shiro's right arm.

"Sure..." Shiro still looks a little concerned as he kneels down, but the kids are just fascinated.

"Heh, it's all squishy!" Henry says, somehow managing to grimace and grin at the same time. He looks delighted.

"Can I ride on your shoulders?" Adela asks.

"Of course you can." Shiro finally seems to relax then and Pidge helps Adela climb up on his shoulders. "Hold on tight now and watch your head."

Henry offers Pidge his hand and leads them through the house to the field at the back, where the party already seems to be in full swing. It's exactly like Hunk described it, only even more awesome. In the middle of the field there are five large bonfires arranged in a circle. A group of kids run past them clutching sparklers in their hands, and there are adults and teens dancing around the fires. The music booms out of a number of speakers arranged in the middle of the circle of bonfires, but Pidge can still hear the voices singing over it.

The air is _thick_ with magic and she breathes it in greedily.

"Happy Halloween!" Lance calls as he approaches them. He's shirtless, the upper half of his body painted all black, with a white skeleton drawn on. His face is made up like a skull and when his lips curl into a grin it looks like he has two sets of teeth. Pidge _loves_ it.

-

Keith looks utterly blissful. Hunk has been watching him for a while now, just enjoying the view. Keith's costume is supposed to be a werewolf, with the main components being ripped clothes, furry ears poking out from amongst his hair and a fluffy tail tied to the back of his jeans. The bonfires seem to sway with him as he dances, laughing and whooping and clapping along with the other party-goers. And maybe it's just that Hunk has had a bit too much to drink, but he could swear that his boyfriend is actually _glowing_.

Lance dances up behind Keith, wrapping his arms loosely around his waist and moving to the same rhythm. He grins at Hunk.

"Come dance with us!" he calls.

"Nah, I think you guys are doing just fine without me."

"C'mon, Hunk! Pleeeease?" Keith calls to him, leaning forward while Lance holds him up and extending his arms out towards Hunk imploringly.

He can feel his friends' magic drawing him towards them, powerful and irresistible, like a gravitational pull. As soon as he's close enough, Keith wraps his arms around his neck, pulling him down so that they're nose to nose. Hunk feels drunk looking into his eyes, currently rendered a bright yellow by the glamour Hunk cast, matching the illusion Keith's projected onto Hunk's own eyes. It was Keith's idea that they go as a werewolf and vampire. When Keith kisses him, he can taste the fake blood from around his own mouth. 

When they part, he catches sight of Lance's face over Keith's shoulder. One minute his friend is grinning happily, but then his expression shifts, turning to a frown as he looks at something behind Hunk.

He cranes his neck to see a group of people approaching around the side of the house. It's like something out of an old horror movie and at first he thinks it must be some kind of stunt for Halloween; the members of the crowd are holding burning torches, pitchforks and baseball bats. But as they draw closer and their faces are illuminated, he realises that they aren't here for the party.

Lance moves around him to go and meet them, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"Hey, happy Halloween! Can I help you guys with something?"

Hunk doesn't catch what the first man says in response, but he sure as hell hears the gunshot that follows. Lance crumples to the floor and Hunk feels his stomach drop. He feels like he's been turned to stone, horror freezing him in place.

"All of you witches, this is your last chance!" shouts the leader of the mob, brandishing a bat. "Get out of town or stay and burn!"

Hunk sees someone run past him and realises it's Lance's mother, Isabella. She drops to her knees beside her son and gathers him up in her arms. The firelight glints off the blood trickling down his face.

For a moment, nobody moves. Then the earth beneath their feet gives an almighty shudder. Deep gashes open up in the ground, radiating out around where Isabella is knelt. When she speaks it's as though the Earth itself echoes her words.

"HOW DARE YOU COME HERE, TO OUR HOME! HOW DARE YOU LAY A HAND ON MY SON! YOU _DARE_ THREATEN US, ON THIS NIGHT?!"

The earth quakes again and those members of the mob who are still standing quickly lose their footing. Hunk feels the power behind him, beside him, gathering, growing, rising. Keith grips his hand and the bonfires behind them roar. Hunk turns to see the rest of Lance's family and their friends standing, staring down the attackers in eerie silence. And then he sees other shadowy figures rising in the firelight.

The members of the would-be mob are scrambling to their feet, finally realising what a grave mistake they've made attacking a gathering of witches, especially on Halloween night, when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is at its thinnest. They drop their weapons and flee.

Finally snapping out of his trance, Hunk hurries over to where Isabella is holding her son. Hunk searches her face, fearing the worst, but she just smiles kindly at him.

"He's alright, Hunk. It was the bat that hit him, not a bullet."

Hunk gasps in relief, tears welling in his eyes. Keith pulls him into a rough hug, pressing his face against Hunk's hair.

"It's OK," he whispers. "He's OK."

-

Slowly, Lance opens his eyes. His head feels really fuzzy, and sore. He blinks sleepily at the sunlight filtering in through a gap in the curtains. He's in his room, in his bed, and... huh.

Pidge is curled up on top of the covers next to him on his right side and Keith's mirroring her pose on the left. The antlers are gone from Pidge's head, but she's still wearing the same clothes and Keith's still got his wolf ears on. Looking past him, Lance sees Hunk asleep on a chair. And on the other side...

"Hey," Shiro says softly. "How's your head?" He stands, reaching out to brush his hand gently over Lance's forehead.

Lance has had dreams like this before, though his fantasies don't usually feature Pidge and Keith curled around him like sleeping guard dogs.

"It's a little sore..." he answers, hamming it up just a little bit in the hopes of getting more attention.

"Your dad fixed you up pretty good. You know, he actually uses a lot of the same remedies that my father used to."

"Ha! Really? There must be a book out there somewhere. 'Witchcraft For Dads: New Edition, now with more puns!'"

Shiro chuckles and at that point Pidge wakes up. She looks up at Lance, bleary-eyed, and yawns.

"Sleep well?" she asks.

"Yeah, about average," Lance responds casually with a shrug as he sits up. "You know, you didn't all have to stay and keep an eye on me."

"Circle's got to stick together," Keith says, sitting up next to him. Lance has to resist the urge to reach out and pet the wolf ears.

"I'm so glad you're OK!" is all the warning Lance gets before Hunk launches himself bodily onto the bed to hug him. Luckily, Keith somehow manages to duck out of the way just in time to avoid getting crushed between them. Good reflexes, that one.

"Good morning to you too!" Lance says, unable to stop himself from smiling as Hunk nuzzles the side of his face.

"I was so worried," Hunk says. "But your mom and dad said it wasn't that bad, that we'd have you healed up in no time."

"What... what exactly happened?" Lance asks. He kind of remembers, but things are still a bit fuzzy.

"Your mom, that's what!" Pidge says excitedly. "You should've seen her. She made this massive earthquake, like _boom_! And the ground just opens up!"

"Heh. Sounds like my mom," Lance says, smiling proudly.

-

Every year during the Thanksgiving break Hunk's family go and stay at a remote cabin in the mountains with some other witch friends. So the weekend before the break Laura takes Keith to the mall to shop for some clothes better suited to the great outdoors. He tells her that he feels a bit guilty about her spending money on him, but she assures him that it's preferable to having to care for a sick teenager. Keith can't really argue with that.

He's really looking forward to the trip. Hunk described it as giving thanks to Mother Nature herself, mostly by 'sacrificing' (i.e. eating) a lot of good food. He's really excited about having Keith there this year to share in the celebration. Keith thinks they'll all be glad to get out of town for a while as well.

After everything that happened in October and then another murder victim being found earlier this month, their small town is looking less and less idyllic every day. That last victim brings the death toll up to five and the cops don't seem to be any closer to finding the killer. Keith really wants to ask Shiro about it again, but he's been kind of preoccupied with Matt lately, so he probably-

"Keith?"

"Hm?"

He looks up to see Laura regarding him with a slightly concerned expression and realises that he must've zoned out. He's just been pushing his food around his plate and not actually eating anything. They managed to pick up most of the items they were looking for already, so Laura suggested they take a break and get something to eat. Which sounded good at the time...

"I said how's school going?"

"It's uh... it's fine."

It's their senior year and Keith has been doing his best to actually concentrate on school. Since Halloween the bullying has died down, but the proverbial cat is very much out of the bag. Keith doesn't know if there are actually any other witches at their school, but he hopes that if there are, they draw strength from seeing the circle out in the open.

"You sure about that?"

Her tone isn't accusatory, just questioning. But then she already knows what his grades are, so that's not what she's asking. He frowns slightly.

"Yeah. I'm doing OK. Hunk's been helping me study."

He searches her face for a reaction and then he realises why her expression looks so familiar. It's the face people make when they're about to give him bad news. Is that why Hunk didn't come with them today? What if they can't afford to take care of him anymore? What if-

"Have you given any thought to what you want to do after you graduate?"

Keith blinks in surprise, too caught off-guard to answer for a moment. Laura waits patiently for him to speak.

"I... hadn't really thought about it," he admits.

She smiles slightly, but she doesn't look any happier. Something is definitely wrong.

"Keith, you know that we can't afford to send you to college."

Oh. _Oh._

"We've been saving for years to pay for Tsuyoshi's college," she continues, "but we just weren't expecting to have a second child to support and there just hasn't been enough time to-"

Keith can't help himself; he laughs in relief. He was so scared that he was going to have to leave, that they were going to send him away again. But it's not like he was expecting _any_ foster parents he had to actually pay for _college_.

Laura looks a little startled by his reaction.

"Sorry," he says quickly. "It's OK, I don't mind. I wasn't really expecting to go to college anyway. And you gave me a home. That's more than I could've asked for."

"And you've never given us any reason to regret it." She smiles warmly. "I'm glad you're OK. We will have to have a talk in the New Year about what you _are_ going to do. So maybe give it some thought over the holidays?"

It's not until they're on their way home that it occurs to him that Laura might have also been concerned for a different reason. If Hunk goes away to college, Keith will be left on his own at home. And the others... Lance will probably go to college too, maybe even the same college as Hunk. Keith feels the familiar sting of jealousy. He's not sure about Pidge, doesn't even know how things usually work if you skip a grade. But Shiro will still be there, right?

-

Pidge has just opened her mouth to respond to her father's argument when she gets a psychic ping from the dog alerting her to the fact that Shiro has just come home from work. Just in time to get dragged into their family squabble.

Her dad frowns at her, confused by her sudden silence.

"Shiro's home," she says.

"Ah, let's see what he thinks, then. Shiro," he calls, "come here a minute." 

Pidge hears some shuffling in the hallway before Shiro peers around the kitchen door at them, already looking worried. They're standing on opposite sides of the room, facing one another across the dining table. With obvious reluctance, Shiro enters the battlefield. It's clear that he was hoping to slip by unnoticed.

"Maybe you can reason with her," her dad says tiredly.

"You're the one who won't listen!" Pidge says angrily. Her father sighs.

"I was going to invite you to join us for Thanksgiving dinner, Shiro, but apparently we shouldn't have one because-"

"That's not what I said!" Pidge interrupts. "And _so_ not the point! Just because I took Matt's side-"

"Your brother doesn't know what he's talking about."

Thanksgiving is in a few days, so her dad called Matt to find out when he was coming home. But her brother's view of the holiday has changed somewhat in recent years and now he's more interested in attending protests than family dinners. Which, in Pidge's opinion, is not such a bad idea. But her father can't seem to understand it.

Meanwhile, Shiro looks like he wishes he could just evaporate and disperse into the air.

"You uh, spoke to Matt?" he asks in a tone that's clearly aiming for casual but falling short. "Is he uh, coming home for the holidays?"

"Well, I called him a minute ago to ask, but he..." Her dad pushes up his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. "Since he started college all of sudden Thanksgiving is _evil_ and all about celebrating genocide. And he says he wants no part of it. He used to love Thanksgiving dinner!"

"You sent him away to get educated and now you're mad that he's thinking clearly," Pidge huffs, folding her arms across her chest.

"Katie thinks that this is perfectly reasonable behaviour," her dad says, gesturing to her despairingly. "I was hoping maybe she'd listen to you."

Pidge glares at Shiro, daring him to try and reason with her. He tries not to let his fear show, but Pidge can _smell it_. Shiro's kind of a history buff and deep down he probably actually agrees with Matt. But he also probably doesn't want to disagree with her dad. Yep, that's totally a sympathetic look Shiro's giving him right now.

"Well, there won't be any lectures over the break either way, right?" Shiro says carefully. "So it would make sense for Matt to come home anyway. And while he's here you could still have a family dinner. I mean, it doesn't have to be about Thanksgiving..."

Her dad is nodding enthusiastically. Pidge is trying hard to feel mad at Shiro, but that was actually a really diplomatic response and it's kind of hard to argue with his logic. She throws up her arms in defeat.

"Fine! I'll call him."

She stomps out of the room and hears her father let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Shiro. I owe you one!"

Pidge hesitates in the hallway, her phone already in her hand.

"No problem. Glad I could help. I uh, actually wanted to talk to you about something, if you have a minute?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"I'm really grateful to you for letting me stay here," Shiro begins, still super diplomatic. "But I was thinking that I should probably move back into my own place after the Thanksgiving break."

"I- Well, of course that's fine." There's a pause. "Just so long as you're not feeling pressured to leave. Because you know you can stay as long as you need."

"I know. And I can't thank you enough for that. I just feel like now things have settled down a bit in town, it's the right time."

"Right. Yes. Well, you let us know if you need any help with anything, OK?"

"Thank you, I will."

Pidge ducks under the stairs when Shiro comes out. He heads upstairs and once he's safely out of sight, she slips back into the kitchen.

"That was quick," her father says. "Is that a good or a bad sign?"

"Neither. Got his voicemail," Pidge lies. "I'll try again later."

"Maybe he'll have calmed down a bit by then," her father says hopefully.

"Maybe..." Pidge tries to act casual as she closes the door behind her. "Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Does it have to do with Thanksgiving?" he asks wearily.

"No. It's uh, actually about Shiro."

"Oh?" He looks curious.

"Are you... You seem worried about him."

She's not really sure how to phrase her question. It's just something she's picked up on while Shiro's been staying with them. Although there's definitely still a lot of ill feeling towards witches around, there haven't been any more attacks since Halloween. There was really no need for Shiro to stay with them for so long. And maybe it just feels weird after he kicked him out before, but it seems like her dad is being extra protective of Shiro.

Her father smiles, looking a little embarrassed.

"Force of habit, I suppose."

Pidge frowns, now even more intrigued.

"Did something happen? Something I don't know about?"

"No, no. Well, not exactly." Pidge continues looking at him expectantly. "Shiro's father, Yuuto, he... I don't know if it was how he was raised or simply the result of being in the military for most of his life, but he was a very private person. He tended to keep his emotions to himself."

Pidge honestly doesn't remember much about Shiro's father, just that he was tall and kind of imposing. He wasn't around much while Shiro was dating Matt.

"When they found out Akira's cancer was terminal," her father continues, "I thought for sure that Yuuto would come home to be with his family. Takashi kept insisting that it wasn't his father's choice, that his request for leave had been denied, but I'm not sure I believe that. He left Takashi alone to care for his dad in those last few months of his life. By the time he finally showed up, Akira was practically at death's door.

"And after the funeral, Yuuto just took off. Left his son all alone, rattling around in that empty apartment with only his grief for company. It made me so angry. I even called Yuuto, said a few things that I probably wouldn't have dared say to his face directly. You know how being behind a screen makes you bold? But he brushed me off. Takashi needed his father and he was off in some distant warzone, burying his head in the sand.

"No surprise, then, as soon as Takashi got his high school diploma, he was off to enlist; to chase after his father. Matt never quite understood that, I don't think. It must have felt like Takashi was just desperate to get away, and maybe he thought that was somehow his fault. And then... Well. Yuuto ended up getting himself killed in action and Takashi came really close to doing the same thing. I know he can't go back to the Army now, but... I'm still worried about him."

Pidge thinks about the look on Shiro's face when they arrived at Lance's Halloween party. He knew he belonged there.

"You don't need to worry," she says quietly, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on her father's arm. "He's got us now. The circle, and _us_. He knows he's got family, here and now. He would never abandon us."

-

The drive out to the cabin is very long, but Keith finds plenty to occupy himself with. He's not been on many vacations in his life and he actually quite enjoys just looking out the window, at the towns as much as the countryside. When he's not too distracted by the landscape, Hunk seems to have an exhaustive list of road trip games for them to play. And when Hunk dozes off for a while, Keith amuses himself by playing with the clay cat, which they decided to bring along for the trip, dangling a tassel from his hoodie in front of it so that the cat can chase it.

Once they get further into the wilds, he sees the landscape begin to change. He's never seen anything like this before, so unspoilt by human hands. Marie starts telling him a bit about the friends they're going to be staying with. Then the whole family start reminiscing about previous Thanksgivings, including some embarrassing stories from when Hunk was younger. Keith's not sure whether he should feel glad that he doesn't have anything like that. There's no-one around to recall his younger years.

It's dark by the time they arrive at the cabin, but the others are already there and have warmed the place up for them. Keith blushes while Hunk introduces him to everyone. It's still kind of strange to hear him say 'boyfriend' out loud. There are two other couples - Jen and Kim, and Dan and Andrea - and no other kids, since they're all older and spending Thanksgiving elsewhere. The biggest and best surprise for Keith is that Kim is also Fire dominant. It's the first time he's actually met someone who shares his element.

The next morning he gets up early, too excited to stay in bed. And he's pleasantly surprised to find Kim in the kitchen when he walks in.

"Morning, Keith." She offers him a friendly smile. "Did you sleep well?"

He smiles back, pleased that she remembers his name.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Hunk still resting?"

"Yeah. It was a long drive." He hesitates before asking, "Can I ask you something?"

Kim smirks. "Shoot."

"Sorry if this is... kinda forward. It's just, I've not met anyone else with the same powers as me and I... um..."

"Have about a million questions?" She chuckles. "It's OK, I've been there. Ask away."

They talk until the others start drifting in for breakfast, which Hunk helps to cook. After they've eaten, Kim tells Keith to get his boots on, because if he wants a Thanksgiving dinner he's going to have to catch it first. At first he's not sure if it's a joke, until he sees Jen picking up an actual bow and hoisting a quiver full of arrows over her shoulder. Hunk assures him that he'll be fine and kisses him sweetly before wishing him "Happy hunting".

The three of them trek down the mountain a little way, through the trees surrounding the cabin. When they come out into the open again, Jen stops to do a spell. Kim explains that her wife is Forest dominant and able to channel the spirits of animals, so that she can track and hunt just like, say, a wolf or a mountain lion would. After she completes the spell, Jen goes ahead and Keith can immediately see the difference in the way she moves.

They walk for a while longer before Jen stops suddenly, raising a hand to hush their conversation. Keith looks around quickly, trying to spot what's caught her attention. His breath catches when he spots the wolf standing just in front of the trees below. He's seen wolves before in zoos but never in the wild. Jen tilts her head, like she's listening, and the wolf mirrors her movement. Then slowly she moves forward to meet it, eventually dropping to a crouch and holding out her hand. The wolf sniffs curiously at it before lightly butting its head against her palm. She grins and then laughs as the wolf tries to lick her face.

Kim beckons for Keith to follow her, approaching slowly. The wolf greets her with the same friendly wag of its tail. Keith hesitates and then startles when he spots the other wolves creeping out from amongst the trees. As they move towards the witches, Jen assures him that it's OK. Nervously, he holds out his hand to one of the wolves, only to have it licked affectionately. And then he's practically bowled over by another wolf. He strokes his hand over its fur, so dense and soft, and breaks out into a big goofy grin. This is _magical_.

-

After dinner Keith says that he's going outside for a while. Hunk waits a few minutes before following. He's eaten about as much as he can stand. The hunt was just as successful as previous years. Keith was so excited about the wolves he saw, describing how they had hunted _with_ them and shared what they killed. Hunk's not sure he's ever seen his boyfriend so animated.

Stepping out into the night air, he sees Keith standing over by the large bonfire they built earlier. It might have died down a bit by now, except that Kim's been tending to it. It seems like she and Keith have been talking together a lot. Hunk hopes that it's been helpful for him; it certainly looks like it.

Keith is playing with the fire, reaching into it and letting the flames curl up and around his arm. He's literally on fire, but he's not burning. He has that same glow about him that he had on Halloween, crowning his head like a halo. His smile is soft, contented. He's so beautiful that for a moment Hunk hesitates to approach him; he doesn't feel worthy.

Then Keith looks up and sees him, and his smile grows wider.

All he says is "Hey," but the word's an invitation.

Hunk stops just short of touching him, his gaze flickering between Keith's eyes and the flames licking up his arm and over his shoulder.

"Hey..." he says back, his a question.

"Do you trust me?" Keith asks, holding out his hand.

"... Yes," Hunk answers, taking a deep breath. He lets Keith pull him close. Keith leans up to kiss him and Hunk lets his hands drop to rest on his waist.

With his eyes closed, he tries not to think about the fire. He can feel the heat of it but there's no pain. They part and he takes another steadying breath before opening his eyes.

Keith is engulfed in flames. They ripple over his back, ruffling through his hair. They tickle at Hunk's hands and where Keith's arms are now wrapped around his neck. He's kind of terrified, but somehow he knows that it's OK. He doesn't really understand _how_ but it's like Keith is one with the fire, like it's an extension of him. And so long as Keith doesn't want him harmed, no harm will come to him.

He feels his own magic responding, welling up inside of him. For him, it's like the world curling in on itself, like it's bending around his senses. He can feel the mountain beneath his feet, feel it stretching up into the sky and at the same time descending deep into the Earth. He feels vast and tiny at the same time, like he's experiencing the perspective of the entire mountain range and a single grain of soil simultaneously.

He feels tears welling in his eyes, overwhelmed by the power of it, and sees Keith's eyes shining too. They kiss and it's beyond any words that Hunk knows. He knows what's about to happen, feels their magic rising and mingling, but this time he's not worried. He lets go.

-

Hunk can't stop smiling. He's been smiling all morning and he was smiling all through the night. He's pretty sure he was smiling _in his sleep_. His face really should be hurting but he feels absolutely fine. He probably looks like a complete idiot, but he can't remember how to feel embarrassed. It's vaguely like he's stoned, like all the sharp edges in the world have been smoothed out and everything is soft and safe.

Keith is still glowing, still radiating magic. Hunk's skin tingles whenever they touch, and they're touching a lot. He's pretty sure that Keith has been holding his hand for at least a whole hour, maybe even two. He keeps examining Hunk's knuckles like they're made of precious metals. And now they're kissing again and Hunk's not sure they're gonna be able to stop, because it's literally the best feeling ever.

He's dimly aware of his actions, of packing up his stuff, saying goodbye to their friends, getting into the car, of his moms laughing at him. But it's like it's all just background and Keith is the only thing in the foreground. Even when they were separated, Hunk could sense him, could feel his presence. And that probably should be creepy, should feel intrusive, but somehow it's not and it doesn't.

The whole journey home is spent kissing and laughing and snuggling together in the back seat of the car. And Hunk can hear himself mumbling "I love you" over and over again, so many times that he feels sure it's going to lose all meaning. But somehow it just gains _more_ every time Keith answers with the same.


	4. Who did you think you'd be saving?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) In this chapter, warnings for - mild violence and horror; panic attacks and dubious consent; discussion of murder and mutilation, past domestic violence; fire and earthquakes; plus a few curse words.  
> 2) Thanks again to [Rhi](http://thebonepilot.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing, and giving advice and support on this chapter!  
> 3) I had planned for this to be the final chapter but there ended up being more story, so now there's another chapter still to come.  
> 4) If you like the story, please comment and let me know! If you have a favourite scene or line, even better!

As he moves out onto the ice, Shiro looks like he might be having second thoughts. For his part, Lance is kind of enjoying the way his friend is clinging to his arms for balance. It's nice to be the one in control for once.

He promised Shiro that if the lake froze over this winter, he'd take him ice-skating. Of course, Lance employed every charm and luck spell he knew to ensure that there _was_ ice on the lake this year. He wasn't going to miss an opportunity to spend some time alone with Shiro.

"You OK there, champ?" he asks as Shiro wobbles slightly.

Yeah, Lance is enjoying this entirely too much.

"Y-yeah..." Shiro answers shakily. "Are you sure this is safe? We're not gonna fall through?"

"Totally safe," Lance says, smiling confidently. They reinforced the ice with their powers beforehand, so it's actually even safer than usual. "And even if you did fall through - which you won't - you'd still be fine because I'm here. I _can_ control water, y'know, in any form."

He winks at Shiro and he smiles back, relaxing his grip a little. Watching him, a thought occurs to Lance. "Hey, do you think you could breathe underwater?"

"Uh... I don't know," Shiro answers nervously.

"Like, could you use your power to draw oxygen out of the water, like fish do with their gills?" Lance continues excitedly. Maybe if he and Shiro combined their powers, they could do it together. They'd be like real life mermaids!

But Shiro looks less than enthusiastic. "Maybe. But I hope I'm never in a position where I have to find out."

Lance deflates a little. Maybe some other time.

"So..." He decides to try changing the subject. "How was Thanksgiving with Pidge's family?"

Shiro almost loses his footing, the fingers on his physical hand digging sharply into Lance's arm. He winces mentally. Seems like that was the _wrong_ subject.

"It uh... It was fine."

It really doesn't sound like it was fine. Lance can't help but ask, "Was Matt there?"

"Yeah."

There's an awkward pause and Shiro doesn't seem to want to meet his eyes any more.

"Has he changed much since, y'know, before?"

"He's definitely... different," Shiro says, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Do you think you guys will get back together?" Lance asks, unable to stop himself now. "Or has he already met someone else?"

"He said he had a girlfriend in his first year of college, but they broke up. They're still friends, though."

"So there's a chance?" Honestly, Lance isn't sure whether he wants the answer to be yes or no. Maybe it would be easier for Lance if Shiro was with someone else and permanently off-limits.

"I... I don't think so," Shiro says, looking down at the ice again with sad eyes. "I think he's still quite angry at me. At Thanksgiving he was... I think he was trying to punish me."

"Wow, this guy can really hold a grudge. I know you had a bad breakup, but _sheesh_. What did you do that was so horrible that he's not over it after all this time?"

Shiro's head snaps up suddenly, his eyes widening for an instant before he looks away again quickly. Lance can't help but get the impression that he's just hit a nerve.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell m-"

"I hit him," Shiro says without looking up.

Lance blinks in surprise, not quite processing the words.

"... What, like you punched him or-?"

"I used the back of my hand."

Lance can only stare at him in stunned silence. He almost wants to laugh at the absurdity of it. Shiro would never-

_Fuck._

He looks down at where his hands are still holding Shiro's, one encased in a black glove and the other invisible, empty. Then something occurs to him.

"Was it your right hand?" he asks quietly.

"Yes..."

Shiro finally dares to look at him. He frowns slightly, then follows Lance's gaze to his air hand.

"Maybe you've already been punished enough," Lance says, squeezing both Shiro's hands to emphasise his point.

-

"You know, you don't _have_ to stay here," Shiro says, his tone infuriatingly reasonable.

"I'm _fine_ ," Pidge grits out in response.

So, it turns out Shiro actually quite likes the cold. He refers to the winter air as 'crisp' and 'fresh', words that in Pidge's opinion really should be reserved for describing food. He's not at all bothered by the fact that his apartment is _freezing_. Pidge is wearing a long-sleeved shirt, her own sweater, Matt's hoodie (which he left behind at Thanksgiving) _and_ Shiro's jacket, and she's still cold. At least her laptop is providing some warmth.

They're sitting on Shiro's bed, since the windowless bedroom is the tiniest bit warmer than the kitchen. He's reading some battered hardback, looking entirely too relaxed for someone wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt in December, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankle. Egghead is sprawled against Shiro's legs, head resting on top of his feet.

And yes, Pidge doesn't have to be here, but there's no way she's going home right now. Not with both her parents still in meltdown mode. Things were finally starting to calm down... until Matt came home for Thanksgiving.

Honestly, Pidge feels like she should've spotted the warning signs. Shiro and Matt were chatting online regularly all through October. Things still seemed pretty awkward between them, but from what she read, Pidge had concluded that they were at least moving in the right direction.

Then after Halloween... nothing. Complete radio silence from Matt. But Shiro hadn't said anything about it, so Pidge had just assumed that they were talking on the phone instead or something. 

Then Matt had shown up late to Thanksgiving dinner, wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words 'MAKE LOVE NOT WAR' (no prizes for guessing who _that_ message was aimed at) and a skirt so short that Pidge had been afraid to look in his direction for fear of catching sight of her brother's panties. 

At first her parents had somehow managed to maintain their cool. Her mom had oh-so-calmly asked Matt when he'd gotten a new tattoo. Pidge had snuck a quick look at the tatt. Under normal circumstances she might've thought the design was cute - a simple little dove holding an olive branch. But then Matt had answered that he got it about a month ago. Right after he'd been reunited with Shiro.

Pidge hadn't had any trouble connecting the dots.

Then her mom had finally decided to address the issue of skirt length and the conversation had rapidly descended into an angry shouting match.

Pidge had stepped outside, taking Egghead and Shiro with her. She'd tried to apologise to Shiro, but he clearly thought that the whole thing was somehow _his_ fault. As though Matt hadn't basically been giving him the finger and deliberately baiting her parents.

Pidge had sent an email to Matt's now ex girlfriend, but still current best friend Natalie, to see if she knew what the fuck was going on with him. The response she had gotten was enlightening to say the least.

Apparently Matt had been acting kind of erratic ever since he was reunited with 'The Ex'. He'd been skipping classes, drinking a lot, and getting into fights with anyone who said two words to him. On Halloween he'd gotten so drunk, he'd almost hospitalised himself with alcohol poisoning.

So apparently forgiving and forgetting was not on the cards.

Pidge frowns as her phone buzzes at the same time as an email pings up on her screen. She clicks to open it.

"Oh my _god_."

"What is it?" Shiro looks up quickly from his book.

"Matt got himself arrested at some protest! Nat wanted to give me a heads-up before he calls my parents, because they're gonna freak. This is literally the last thing I need right now!" She clutches at her hair desperately.

Shiro winces and Egghead whines. Pidge reaches over to fuss the dog's ears reassuringly.

"So..." she says, looking up at Shiro hopefully, "any chance I can sleep here tonight?"

-

"You guys really didn't have to do this," Shiro says, watching Hunk anxiously.

"Oh, it's no trouble!" Hunk assures him with a smile. It really isn't. Shiro's tiny apartment isn't going to take long to decorate and it's a small price to pay to get their friend into the holiday spirit.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

"No problem. Keith, can you pass me the..."

Hunk trails off, looking down at his boyfriend. Keith is playing with the fairy lights, making them light up in his hands. It looks like he's trying to pick out one colour at a time; with limited success, despite the look of intense concentration on his face. He's been doing this at home a lot recently too. He's almost as good at lighting up electric light bulbs now as he is candles.

Hunk shoots Shiro a look as if to say 'help me, he's too cute'. Shiro just smiles and nods sympathetically in response.

"Keith?" Hunk tries again.

"Hm?"

"The lights?"

Keith starts to hand them to him, then stops, a mischievous smile forming on his lips. Without warning he hooks the string of lights around the back of Hunk's neck, gently pulling him down, and kisses him.

Which is amazing, as always, but Hunk is uncomfortably aware of Shiro standing behind them. Pidge said that things have not been going well with Matt lately, so Shiro probably doesn't want to see Hunk and Keith being all couple-y right now.

Thankfully, Keith's phone goes off, naturally interrupting the moment, and he releases both Hunk and the lights.

"It's your mom," he says after checking the screen, heading into the hallway to talk. Hunk notes that he can now tell which mom Keith means just by his tone of voice or the way he looks at him. It's great being able to communicate so easily.

"He's really growing in confidence," Shiro comments, watching Keith with a fond smile.

"Oh yeah, he's really powerful now," Hunk responds enthusiastically. He's been dying to tell Shiro about what happened between them at Thanksgiving, but again, now is probably not the right time to regale Shiro with tales of his epic love life.

"We've got to pick up some groceries on our way home," Keith says as he comes back into the kitchen. "Oh, and Shiro, she said if you don't already have plans, you're welcome to come spend Christmas with us."

"Oh, uh... thanks," Shiro says, looking uncertain. He was probably hoping to spend it with the Holts, but now that seems unlikely. He certainly won't be alone for Christmas, though. Hunk is sure that Lance will soon be making Shiro the same offer, if he hasn't already.

-

A few days before Christmas, Matt shows up at Shiro's apartment and asks if he wants to walk the dog with him. Shiro looks surprised, and worried, but he says yes.

They walk in silence for a while before Matt finally speaks.

"I, uh, wanted to apologise... for what happened at Thanksgiving. I was out of line."

"I'm sorry that I put you in that position," Shiro responds quickly. "I shouldn't have been there. I-"

"Will you stop apologising for one second and let me finish?"

Matt doesn't mean to snap, but he needs to get this out.

"Seeing you again, it... it brought up some stuff that I'd been avoiding dealing with," he continues carefully. He feels like any word could trigger an explosion. "It's not just about you, but you were definitely a catalyst. And I handled it badly. Which is on me, not you.

"Shiro, there's... something that I need to tell you." He runs a hand through his hair anxiously and exhales. "I don't know if you remember, after your dad... after you found out his cancer was terminal, I went with you to visit him in hospital. And when you left the room to talk to the doctor, your dad and I, we talked."

Shiro swallows thickly, hunkering down in his jacket.

"He asked me to take care of you," Matt says, his voice strained, "to take care of you after he died. He said that your father loved you, but he wouldn't necessarily be there for you when you needed him. And he was right."

"That's-that's not what happened," Shiro says quickly. "My father was-"

"He wasn't there," Matt says bluntly, looking up at him sharply. "He up and left you after the funeral, remember?"

"He had to go back!" Shiro insists. He sounds so desperate.

"Just like you _had_ to run off and join the Army?"

"No, I always wanted to join the Army. And you knew that! It was where I grew up. It was my family."

"Oh really? Some family. Used you up and then spat you out. Just another broken soldier-"

"I'M NOT BROKEN!"

The words seem to echo in the darkened, empty street. The air surrounding them feels thick and heavy. Shiro turns away and starts walking briskly back in the direction of his apartment.

"Shiro!" Matt calls after him. "Damnit. Your dad made me _promise_. On his deathbed, he made me promise that I'd look after you. I couldn't do that if you were off in some desert in the ass-end of nowhere! I had to follow you."

Shiro stops, momentarily frozen in place. Then he rounds on Matt.

"It wasn't just 'some desert'! Those people- ... You had no idea what you were doing!"

"You're right, I didn't!" Matt yells back. "I was just a kid, Shiro. I could only see one way through. I thought I didn't have a choice."

"You-you just wouldn't let it go..." Shiro says more quietly. There are tears running down his face. "And I- God, Matt, I'm so sorry."

"We were both just too stubborn to back down."

Shiro is shaking slightly as Matt closes the gap between them. Egghead paws at his legs, whining worriedly. Matt takes Shiro's hand in both of his, looking up at him sadly. Shiro just stays still, letting the tears fall.

-

Shiro is spending this evening, as he has every evening since Christmas Eve, in the company of the Holt siblings. Despite having finally cleared the air with Matt, he's grateful to have Pidge there, so that they're not alone together. However, he's also starting to detect a bit of sibling rivalry at play.

Pidge has a spell that she wants to try out, one that would benefit greatly from the combination of their elements. Shiro suggests that maybe Matt could be involved as well, that they could teach him a little magic. Pidge shoots him a dirty look.

Matt's presence is disrupting the familiar habits that the two of them have fallen into. Shiro's quite accustomed to letting Pidge babble for lengthy periods without interrupting, but Matt feels the need to respond to every comment. Shiro can see Pidge bristling whenever her brother interjects. And she looks even less happy when Matt snuggles into her usual spot against Shiro's side, tucked under his arm.

Shiro's not really sure how _he_ feels about it. It feels like he's still getting the hang of this 'new' Matt.

There are little physical differences. Matt's hair is currently dyed red with henna and little silver stars line the edges of his ears. There are a few scars that Shiro doesn't remember being there before, and he rarely sees Matt wear his glasses any more, apparently favouring contacts instead.

But there's also a difference in the way he carries himself, an air of defiance that's new to Shiro. He's a far cry from the awkward teenager Shiro used to know, secretly wearing skirts in his bedroom where only his boyfriend would see.

After a taking a year out with depression, it seems like going away to college finally gave Matt the opportunity to explore his own identity. He told Shiro that he'd been trying out various labels, but hadn't really found one that felt like the right fit yet.

It looks good on him though, this new confidence, and Shiro finds himself staring sometimes. When Pidge catches him at it, he blushes despite himself. She just shakes her head.

-

At around 6pm on New Year's Eve, Shiro is sitting cross-legged on the rug in Hunk's living room with the rest of the circle, talking about all they've achieved in the last year and everything they want from the next one.

Lance suggests, half-jokingly, that they should find him a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend; he's not fussy. Pidge pipes up that she doesn't think they have enough power for that. Lance lets out an indignant gasp and grabs one of the pillows from the sofa to throw at her. She dodges behind Shiro to avoid it and he deflects it easily with his air hand, but it lands in Hunk's lap and then it's _on_.

From underneath the ensuing dogpile, Shiro can see Keith doubled over with laughter. He looks so happy and carefree, and watching him, Shiro can't help but feel optimistic about the New Year. Things are finally looking up.

A few seconds before midnight Shiro is standing in the Holts' kitchen and everyone is counting down.

His eyes meet Matt's across the room. A lazy grin spreads across his face, mirrored on Matt's. Then everyone cheers and shouts "Happy New Year!". Someone pops champagne and the room is filled with the sound of drunken singing.

Shiro feels someone grasp him around his waist and looks down to find Matt gazing up at him like he's the sun, moon and stars all rolled into one.

A few minutes after 1am on New Year's Day, with one good, sure shove Shiro lands gracelessly on his ass on Matt's bed, only just managing to form an air cushion in time to keep the back of his head from hitting the wall behind him.

Matt is on him an instant later, kissing his neck, nipping at his jawline, biting down on his earlobe. His hands fumble desperately at Shiro's clothes, unable to make up his mind whether pulling his shirt up or his jeans down is the priority.

Shiro gasps, beginning to hyperventilate as he tries to choke in enough oxygen, the fingers on his physical hand spasming and clawing at the bedclothes. His body is taught, so tensed up it hurts, and he feels the familiar sensation of panic rising in his chest.

At about half past 2am Shiro is lying on his back on Matt's bed, wide awake.

Matt is snoring softly, his head pillowed on Shiro's chest. Guilt and nausea swirl in his stomach. He feels like he dodged a bullet. Because he honestly doesn't know, had things gone any further, whether he would've been brave enough to say no.

And that thought - that he might've made _another_ huge mistake with Matt - makes him feel like weeping. So he sets his sights on the map of the stars painted on the ceiling above him and silently lists off the constellations until exhaustion finally claims him.

At about a quarter to nine in the morning, Matt yawns and squints up at Shiro. He reaches out, grabs Matt's glasses from the nightstand and hands them to him. Adjusting them, Matt smiles as he comes into focus.

"Hey."

"Hey," Shiro responds softly, gently brushing Matt's hair back over his head. He smiles appreciatively, then seems to take in the situation, their state of undress.

"Did we... um..."

"No," Shiro assures him. "You needed to sleep."

"Oh," Matt says. Shiro can't quite tell whether he sounds disappointed or relieved. Maybe it's a little of both. "Sorry."

"Don't mention it," Shiro responds. If Matt suspects that anything is wrong, he keeps it to himself.

Just after 10am Shiro steps into the Holts' kitchen.

"Morning, Shiro," Sam greets him cheerfully. "Coffee?"

"Please."

Sam pours a cup and hands it to Shiro. He takes a grateful gulp of the hot liquid.

"How's he doing?" Sam asks, directing a meaningful look at the ceiling.

Shiro mentally files away the fact that Matt's father knows they were together last night and that he's not mad about it, and counts his blessings.

"A little hungover, but I think he'll live."

"He'll probably feel better once he gets some breakfast in him."

After breakfast, Shiro pretends to notice a message on his phone and says that he needs to go back to his apartment. Pidge gives him a look across the table and mouths 'are you OK?' and he nods quickly as he gets up.

Matt catches him at the door with a hand on his arm and pulls him into a quick kiss. Shiro almost says something then, but the words don't quite make it out of his mouth. Instead he just smiles weakly and gives Matt's arm a quick squeeze in lieu of a goodbye.

-

A week later police find the body, missing its left leg. It's old, dead for weeks. They've scarcely got the crime scene recorded when another is discovered. This body is more recently dead and missing its right leg. It's obvious to everyone in the circle that it's happening again.

They meet at Hunk's house as always, to talk it over. It seems like whoever's doing this is collecting all the necessary parts to build something or someone. Pidge has put together a timeline. The first two killings were in September, with the liver and kidneys taken. In October there were two more, missing the lungs and heart respectively. The fifth and what they had thought was final kill occurred in early November and the brain was taken.

But the two new victims were both apparently killed in December, after a break of nearly a whole month, and limbs were taken instead of organs. But if it _is_ another cycle, they can expect another three deaths. It's a souring thought.

As they start opening up books, Shiro heads outside to get some air. Sensing that something is wrong, beyond the obvious, Hunk follows him. He is the Earth, Shiro's equal and opposite, more sensitive to the changes in air pressure in his presence, just as Shiro picks up on the subtle shifts in the ground beneath them when Hunk is uneasy.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asks gently.

Shiro shakes his head. "No, it's not important."

Hunk laughs. "You're part of my circle, Shiro. Anything to do with you is important."

He moves to stand next to Shiro and he takes a deep breath, wetting his lips.

"While Matt was home for New Year's, we- Things got a little more intimate than I was comfortable with. And I... I couldn't bring myself to tell him to stop."

Hunk reaches out, placing a hand on his shoulder and Shiro covers it with his own.

"Are you OK? I mean, did you guys...?"

"No, it didn't actually get that far. He was too drunk to follow through. But he wanted to, and I didn't. I feel so stupid for not just saying that to him."

"You're not stupid," Hunk says firmly, pulling him into a hug.

"Hey, am I interrupting?" Lance is standing in the doorway, looking uncertain.

"No, it's fine," Shiro says quickly.

"We found something, but, uh, not in English. Hoping you might be able to translate, Hunk."

They both follow Lance back through to the living room, where there are open books spread out across the floor. They sit and Keith turns the book he had in front of him around so that they can see.

"Lance said you might be able to read this," he says, looking at Hunk.

Hunk studies the open pages. There's a drawing of a humanoid figure in the middle of one, surrounded by symbols for the five elements. The text is in Swahili, written in the Latin alphabet. Thanks to some family friends, Hunk knows the language well enough to follow conversations, but he hasn't had much practice at translating spells.

"Vol-te-ron," Lance tries to sound out the title. "Voltron. Cool. Sounds like a giant robot or something."

"What _is_ it?" Shiro asks.

Hunk scans the text, silently mouthing words to himself, trying to find something familiar. He reaches for the bookshelf beside him, pulling out his little Swahili - English dictionary and quickly flicking through it.

"I'm kind of rusty, so this is only a rough translation," he says apologetically, "but I think it says 'protector'. Or maybe 'defender'?"

"Defender of what?" Shiro asks.

"Um... whatever needs defending, I guess. It looks like kind of an emergency measure, like 'in case of emergency, break glass'. It says that the five members of a circle can combine their powers to form this 'Voltron' to defend against a threat too powerful for them to take on by themselves."

"It sounds like a weapon," Shiro says, frowning, "and it's no use to us if we don't know who we're fighting."

-

When she first asks Hunk to translate the 'Voltron' spell book with her, Pidge anticipates a certain amount of resistance. Hunk says that when he asked his mom about the book, she told him to leave it alone. Apparently the spells contained within are not the kind that teenagers should be messing around with. But however much Hunk might want to heed that warning, Pidge can tell that his heart's not in it.

If the spells are dangerous, she argues, then fine, they won't attempt any of them. But surely there's no harm in translating the book, just to see what it says? She notes that her instincts were right on the money when Hunk immediately agrees, and straight away whips out some photocopied pages and notes that he's already made. He says he copied the pages so that he could return the book to the shelf and carry on studying it without his mom knowing.

However, there is one small problem. After studying the book a little (Hunk has translated its title as 'The Book of Lions'), he has determined that it's not all written in one single language, but several. After doing some investigating he's reasonably sure that they're all Bantu languages, but which ones specifically, he's not sure.

His limited knowledge of Swahili really isn't going to cut it for translating the whole book. But asking for help from anyone who might mention it to his parents is too risky. So he suggests they just focus on the passages in Swahili and see how far they get.

Pidge is more than happy to accept the challenge. The book is not old and the dialect is relatively modern, but it's not like they can just paste the text into Google Translate. Any modern witch worth their salt knows that directly mixing magic with the Internet has a tendency to produce _unpredictable_ results. This is going to take a hefty combination of book research, custom software, and magic to make any sense of. Pidge can hardly wait.

It feels good to be working on something with Hunk again. It seems like it's been a while. The circle have been spending a lot of time together, sure, but it feels like Pidge has been spending less and less time alone with Hunk. These days hanging out with him inevitably means hanging out with Keith too.

It's not that Pidge is jealous. She doesn't feel that way about Hunk, doesn't feel that way about anyone. But maybe it bothers her just a little, the way Keith's just kind of taken over. Hunk's in love, she gets that. But it's not even just Hunk. Lance is always, always trying to get a rise out of Keith. Pidge wonders if he even realises just how much time he spends talking about him.

The fact is, Hunk's changing. He's growing up, about to turn eighteen, and he's gradually becoming more... mellow. He spends way more time on art now than engineering, and part of that is probably because it's something that he can more easily share with Keith. 

Lance has changed too. He's working hard at school for his senior year, will probably get into a good college, and he's been showing more of an interest in learning actual witchcraft, not just showy parlour tricks to impress people. He's been asking Pidge a lot of questions lately about herbs and plants. 

They're both changing. And if she can't keep up, maybe some day soon they'll just... leave her behind. 

Hunk's bedroom door swings open and Pidge slams her laptop shut, frantically reaching for the papers surrounding her to try and hide them. But looking up, she realises it's only Keith.

Of course it's Keith.

"Hey." He offers them both a small smile. "Is that the 'Voltron' book?"

"Yeah, but we're just translating it!" Hunk says quickly. "Or trying to. We haven't gotten very far yet."

Keith just nods and steps over the papers to plop down on the carpet beside Hunk.

"Can I help?" he asks, peering curiously at the photocopied pages laid out in front of Hunk.

Pidge wants to tell him 'no'. If they have to keep stopping to explain things to Keith every five minutes, it'll take at least twice as long.

"It's kind of a complex process," Hunk explains gently. "We're basically learning the language as we go, so I don't know if you-"

"What's that?" Keith interrupts, stabbing one of the pages on the floor with his index finger. Pidge scoots over a bit to get a better look at what he's pointing at. It's one of the pages from the 'Voltron' spell. Keith's finger rests on an illustration of what looks like some kind of ceremonial dagger.

"Um, I haven't got that far yet," Hunk says apologetically, "but I think it's needed for the spell. Why?"

"I have it," Keith says.

"What?" Pidge blurts, incredulous.

Keith scrambles to his feet and heads over to the chest of drawers against the wall. He pulls open the bottom drawer and roots through the clothes inside, pulling out a small metal box. He brings it over and places it on the floor between Pidge and Hunk before opening it.

There are a number of items inside - old knick-knacks, jewellery, keyrings - and the knife. Keith lifts it out, carefully unwrapping the brown cloth around the handle. He hands it to Hunk, who holds it out alongside the illustration from the spell.

It definitely looks like the same knife.

"Where did you get this?" Hunk asks, frowning.

"It was in a box of stuff my parents left with me when they... when they left," Keith says quietly.

"What are the odds," Pidge begins carefully, "that your parents - who may or may not have been witches - just _happened_ to have the ceremonial knife needed for a powerful spell, one that can only be performed by the members of a full circle, just lying around?"

"And that they left it with their son when they were separated from him?" Hunk adds. "That can't be coincidence. Your parents had to be witches."

Keith looks kind of stunned and Pidge feels her annoyance start to fade. She reaches out to give his hand a sympathetic squeeze. This is a part of his past that he really knows nothing about and it turns out to be connected to something this big. It has to be a sign. If nothing else, they do need to translate this 'Voltron' spell. They have to know what it means.

-

Lance hasn't seen much of Shiro lately. He showed up briefly for Hunk's birthday celebrations, but otherwise he's been noticeably absent from the circle's gatherings. Lance kind of got the impression that he wanted to be left alone, and he's been trying to respect that.

But now Shiro has come to him, standing in front of his house on a Tuesday morning.

"Hey, Lance. Is your father home?"

"Uh, yeah. Come on in. _Papi!_ " he calls over his shoulder. Shiro looks tired. Like, even more so than usual. "Are you OK?"

Shiro doesn't answer as he steps inside. Lance sees his dad coming down the hall towards them. He smiles when he sees Shiro.

"Shiro! Good to see you again."

"You too, Felipe. I know it's probably not a good time, but I... think I need help," Shiro says quietly.

Lance frowns in concern. Shiro really doesn't look good.

"Of course. Come, let's talk." Lance follows as his dad guides Shiro through to the kitchen. "How can we help?"

"I can't sleep," Shiro says simply. "Every time I do, I have nightmares. At first I thought it was just the usual, bad memories from my Army days. But then I started seeing _him_..."

Lance's father looks at him questioningly, but all he can do is shrug. Shiro seems to steel himself before he continues.

"He's like some kind of doppelgänger," he explains. "A spirit double. In the last few weeks before I was discharged from the Army, I started dreaming about him. It was happening frequently enough that I figured it had to be some kind of omen..."

"And did something happen?" Lance asks, already sensing what the answer is going to be.

"Yeah. I mean, this was right before Sven was killed..."

"Sven?" 

"Jake Svensson. He was our sniper and my best friend," Shiro says. There's a flicker of a bittersweet smile before his expression turns weary again. "I was next to him when he died. The explosion also wrecked my arm. They had to amputate what was left of it."

Before he even realises what he's doing, Lance is reaching for his hand. Shiro lets him take it, returning his reassuring grip.

"I'm sorry."

Shiro nods in acknowledgement. There's kindness in his eyes as he looks at Lance.

"You think this spirit killed him?" his father asks gently after a moment.

"Honestly, I didn't know what to think. I was pretty messed up after that, both physically and mentally. They sent me home as soon as I was well enough to travel and by the time I got back to the States, I was wondering if I hadn't just imagined the whole thing. But from what I read, seeing a spirit double almost always means trouble, for you and anyone close to you."

Lance's father nods in understanding. "What exactly does this double look like?"

"Just like me," Shiro answers, "minus the wear and tear." His eyes shift to the stump of his arm. "And his eyes glow yellow," he adds with a small shudder. "Since those two new bodies were discovered, he's just been... _haunting_ me. I don't know what to do."

"Spirits like this are always difficult to interpret," Lance's father says. "You need to be viewing them through the right lens. But it's impossible to tell whether a microscope or a telescope is needed, so we'll try every option."

He goes to the bookshelf above the kitchen counter and pulls out a small volume, flicking through until he locates the spell he's looking for. He hands the open book to Lance.

"Can you prepare this? I'm just going to fetch your mother."

Lance studies the pages quickly, then places the book on the table before he starts opening cupboards. Shiro is reading over the spell while he fills a large mixing bowl with water from the sink.

He feels like he should say something. Shiro lost his best friend and his arm, as well as, effectively, his job, in one go. That's a lot to bear. Lance can't imagine, doesn't _want_ to imagine what that must've felt like. If anything ever happened to Hunk, he doesn't know if he'd even be able to carry on.

"Shiro?"

"Yeah?" Shiro looks up from the book, meeting Lance's eyes.

Lance can't find the words, so instead he just wraps his arms around his friend and squeezes his eyes tight shut. He feels Shiro's arm move around his back, gently hugging him in return. He takes a breath, like he's about to say something, but then apparently changes his mind.

At that point, however, Lance's parents come into the kitchen. He quickly finishes preparing the spell, dropping the relevant herbs into the bowl of water. Then the four of them take their seats around the table. Lance reaches around either side of the bowl, taking hold of Shiro's hand with both of his. His parents place their hands one each on his and Shiro's shoulders, forming a closed circuit.

"As Lance changes the water from one state to another," his father explains, "we should hopefully see your spirit come into focus. Once we know what we're dealing with, we can figure out what to do."

Shiro nods his agreement, then faces Lance again across the water. Lance takes a breath to centre himself before focusing on the bowl. Changing the state of the water within isn't going to be difficult, but he does need to concentrate.

First he cools it, until the entirety of the bowl's contents are frozen solid. He waits a few beats to see if anything appears, but the room remains still.

So he begins to quickly melt the ice, until the bowl is once again filled with liquid. Again he waits, but nothing happens. He can't sense any new presence in the room.

Finally he starts to heat the water, until it begins bubbling and then boiling, before finally starting to rise as steam. Still nothing. Lance clasps Shiro's hand more tightly, meeting his eyes across the table. Maybe the spirit won't reveal itself to him. Maybe only Shiro can see it.

Then a slight shape in the steam catches his eye. Something is definitely emerging from the rising steam, a shape Lance recognises, a face... but it's not Shiro's. He frowns slightly, trying to make it out.

Suddenly the shape snaps into focus, huge jaws opening wide to reveal curved fangs. The giant cat _ROARS_. Lance remains still, frozen in place, eyes wide and unable to look away.

Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the cat is gone, vanishing into the column of steam.

Lance blinks rapidly, the sights and sounds of the room slowly coming back into focus. He feels his mother's hand touch his hair, hears her questioning him.

"I... I'm fine, _Mami_. Really, I'm OK." He offers her what he hopes is a reassuring smile.

"Shiro, does that mean anything to you?" his father asks. "Have you ever seen a big cat like that before?"

"It's a lion," Lance says.

"A lion?" His father frowns at him. "Are you sure?"

Shiro is looking at him questioningly now too. In truth, Lance can't be sure, but he senses that there's a connection. Hunk said the title of the book containing the Voltron spell was 'The Book of Lions'. Lance just _knows_ that what he saw had to be a lion.

-

Pidge sighs, rubbing at her eyes. It's late and she should probably think about calling it a night, but she doesn't think she'll be able to sleep even if she does. She's been electronically keeping tabs on the local cops, so she was the first of the circle to find out about the third killing in this cycle. The left arm was taken this time, lending weight to the theory that the harvested parts are being used to build a body.

She has to keep working. Not that she thinks this 'Book of Lions' has all the answers - or _any_ of the answers – but she needs to do _something_. Maybe forming Voltron requires the combined powers of the whole circle, and maybe Shiro has made it abundantly clear that he's not on board with using that spell. But if there's one spell in this book for an emergency situation, then there might well be others.

Probably not this one, though. For starters, the possible translations Pidge has come up with for the title so far are 'song', 'hymn' or 'prayer', followed by either 'of', 'for' or 'to'. At least the last part is clear; two words that have already cropped up in several of the sections they’ve translated: 'lion goddess'.

Pidge did initially debate whether she should bother translating this page at all. But given that they're already missing large chunks of the book, this little passage could be critical to understanding the wider context of the spells that they _can_ read.

Plus she's almost finished it now, so she might as well continue.

She flicks through the dictionary she has to hand, only to locate yet another word with an ambiguous meaning. She's been using a combination of physical reference books, online research and magic to do the translation. Hunk had a spell that he'd used before, to create a magical 'universal translator'. But it was only really designed for short-term use, for translating a single spell in a hurry, and not really up to the task of sustained, prolonged translation.

At last Pidge finishes rearranging the words in the final sentence on the page into something vaguely coherent. Yawning, she stretches out her arms and back.

She should sleep.

Or she could just read the whole thing through once, just to make sure she didn't miss anything.

She starts reading, murmuring the words aloud under her breath. She thinks now that 'prayer' is a more accurate term for the text. It praises the lion goddess before going on to ask her for strength and support. It sounds kind of flat though, most of the poetry of the words lost in translation.

Whatever.

Pidge can feel her eyes closing, despite her having decided to keep them open. She needs to... needs to...

_She opens her eyes and checks her surroundings. The bushes are providing good cover, especially in the moonless night._

_Over to the right, she knows, the others lie hidden, creeping slowly forward. Just a little further and their circle will enclose their prey. Then together they will drive the antelopes back towards their sister, poised ready to make the kill._

_Just a little further..._

Pidge’s head snaps up as she wakes, her laptop slipping off of her crossed legs.

"Fuck." She quickly grabs the computer and closes it. The room is dark save for the weak light from the street lamp outside her window.

_What the hell was that?_

-

"Thanks for coming with me," Pidge says, setting her bag down on the mortuary table. "I know Shiro would never agree to this."

"Thanks for trusting me," Keith answers, looking warily around the room. In truth, he's a little creeped out by the morgue. And the concept of necromancy in general, really. But he's sick of inaction and Pidge is his friend, so he's not going to leave her to do this alone. "So, what do you need for the spell?"

"Oh, not much," Pidge answers casually, as she sets things out on the table. "It's really just a scaled up version of what I did with the animals. I'm going to call the spirit back to the body long enough to answer my questions."

Keith looks over at the sheet-covered corpse on the next table. Hunk would never have agreed to this either. But he will understand once it's done and they have some answers.

"What do you need me to do?" he asks.

"Set fire to something." Pidge grins at him and Keith can't help smiling back. "I need you to slow down the burning process so that it lasts longer, as long as possible. Plus your power is going to add extra strength to the spell. So..."

She picks up a needle and syringe, and rolls up her sleeve. "We need blood that keeps us alive..." She draws some of her own. "And hair that goes on living after death..." She pushes the hair, which looks like her own, through a gap in a ball of twigs, tied together with string. 

There appear to be other things inside the wooden cage - leaves and clay and bits of cloth. Pidge begins opening the little vials sitting on the table one by one and emptying a few drops of liquid from each onto the ball. Finally, she squeezes the blood out of the syringe, so that it covers the ball, soaking into the mixture.

"OK," Pidge says, dusting off her hands. "Light 'er up. And remember, we need it to burn _slow_."

Keith takes a long breath, in through his nose, and focuses on the ball. It lights up almost immediately. That was the easy part. Keeping it burning is going to be much harder.

Pidge takes hold of his hands, their arms encircling the flaming ball of twigs. Then she begins the incantation, apparently already committed to memory. Keith tries to stay focused on the fire, but occasionally glances up to check on Pidge.

As she finishes the incantation, the finality in her tone marking the conclusion of the spell, Keith feels a nervous tension settling in his stomach. The fire finally dies, and the room becomes eerily quiet. Keith glances over at the sheet-covered corpse again, half-expecting it to suddenly sit up. But nothing in the morgue is moving.

"Did-did it work?" he asks nervously. "What happens n- _ohshit!_ "

He jerks away, instinctively dropping Pidge's hands. Her eyes are wide open and completely white, her head bowed like she can't hold it up.

"Pidge?!"

At the sound of his voice, her head shoots up, as though looking right at him.

"Where..." Her voice sounds strange, forced, overlapped by another. "Can't-dark-gravel-where-?"

Keith doesn't move, doesn't hardly dare breathe. His every instinct is screaming at him to get the hell out of there, to run as far away as possible. He can't sense Pidge at all. He hadn't even realised that he could feel her energy while they weren't touching, but its absence is now glaringly obvious.

Pidge's arms stretch out, feeling blindly. Finding the edge of the table, she starts to move around it towards him.

"Curved," the voice rasps, "No-! Through-"

"I don't understand!" Keith blurts and immediately wishes he hadn't, as Pidge again looks sharply in his direction, milky eyes unseeing.

"Rabbit-fall-rust-rusty-don't!"

Keith has no idea what to do. The jumbled words mean nothing to him, but the spirit is obviously distressed.

"I-I don't know how to help you. I'm sorry."

"She-" the voice gasps. "Find-! Edge-gravel-grey-empty-p-poisoned ground-"

"She? Just-just tell me how to find her. I can stop her, I promise."

There's a moment of eerie silence.

When Pidge speaks again, the voice is overlapped not just by one other voice, but many. They shout and scream, any actual words drowned out in the cacophony. The corpse on the table finally does sit up and the metal drawers behind Keith rattle violently. Pidge starts to move towards him again, reaching out, and he backs up until he's up against the wall of drawers.

Despite their blindness, the spirit seems to be having no trouble locating him now. He tries to slip past Pidge, to make a break for the door, but finds himself slammed back into the lockers. His cry of fear is cut off as Pidge reaches up and clamps a hand over his nose and mouth.

Keith struggles, but Pidge holds him in place, pinning his wrists to his chest with her free hand. She's so strong! He's not sure what the spirit - or _spirits_ \- is trying to do to him. He can still breathe, but the smell is overwhelming, like Pidge's hand has been soaked in something. Panicked, he reaches out with his powers, feeling for anything he can grab onto. He has to-

Pidge's hands fall away, her eyes widening as their natural colour blooms into being once more. She staggers back a step, legs shaky. 

Everything is still now, nothing moving in the room. The dead have returned to their slumber. Keith breathes a sigh of relief.

"Whoa... Did-did it work? I feel kind of dizzy..." Pidge says, putting her arms out as though to steady herself. "Keith, why are you staring at me like that?"

Keith hugs her tightly before he answers. "It worked, just not the way I'm guessing you were expecting..."

"Elaborate," Pidge demands, crossing her arms over her chest.

"The spirit, instead of returning to their body, they possessed _you_ -"

"Well, that explains the funny taste in my mouth."

Keith blinks. "But you're OK?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Pidge answers casually. "Did you manage to get any answers out of them?"

"Kinda..." Keith answers.

"'Kinda' as in-?" Pidge prompts.

"They want us to find the killer. They were trying to tell me where she was-"

"So the killer's female?"

"The spirit certainly seemed to think so, yeah," Keith confirms. "I couldn't understand most of what they said. It was just random words, all jumbled up. But they left me with something else."

Pidge raises her eyebrows questioningly.

"A scent."

"A scent?" Pidge echoes.

"I don't know if it's actually the killer's scent or if it's connected to her location, but I think if I can follow it-"

"You'll find her," Pidge finishes. "OK, good. One problem, though: you're not exactly a bloodhound."

Keith huffs a sigh. He's quite sure he would recognise the smell if he got near the source, but that's not much help when the killer could be anywhere. It's not like he can track the scent over a distance like a dog.

Or maybe he can.

"Pidge, have you ever tried animal spirit possession before?"

Pidge laughs. "Maybe I have, but I'm not sure that I-"

"You just woke up all the corpses in this morgue," Keith points out impatiently.

"OK, look. Possessing myself with an animal spirit, which I'm already strongly attuned to, is one thing. Getting an animal spirit to possess _you_ is different. What if you can't control it?"

"You'll help me," Keith insists. They're so close now; they can't let this opportunity go. "If I can find out where the killer is hiding, if I can just get a look at her, we can lead the cops straight to her. This could all be over and no-one else would have to die."

Pidge bites her bottom lip. "OK."

-

Keith feels incredible: energised, _enhanced_. All of his senses are sharpened and he feels stronger, faster, like he could do anything.

He only needs to do one thing though, which is follow this scent. He picked it up much more quickly than he was expecting to and now that he has, it's all he can think about. He chose a wolf, thinking of the ones he met at Thanksgiving. Apparently it was a good choice.

The trail is taking him further and further out, but since the morgue is near the edge of town, he hasn't actually had to go far. He picks up his pace, sure that he's getting close now.

Crossing a road, he comes to a cluster of grey buildings. Jogging down the track and round a corner, he finds a large parking lot, lined with gravel. The buildings look like warehouses, but it doesn't seem like anyone's been here in a while. Keith lifts his nose, breathing in. The scent is strong now; he's definitely close.

Right? No, left. He turns towards one of the smaller structures. Is this it? He stretches out his senses, but he can't feel any electricity inside the shed. Cautiously, he proceeds to the door. He hesitates, his hand poised over the handle.

Quickly he looks back over his shoulder. Maybe he should wait for Pidge to catch up? But there are no signs of life here, no sound coming from inside. It's probably safe for him just to check it out. The door isn't locked and opens easily. 

The smell hits him before he's even had a chance to process what he's looking at. It's overwhelming, the stench of rotting vegetation and spoiled meat. He raises his arm to cover his nose.

There's a workbench stretching all around the edge of the room. It's cluttered with jars and bowls, knives and saws, blood and entrails, leaves and flowers. Hanging from the ceiling are more plants and branches, along with the corpses of some smaller animals and birds.

Clearly someone's been working here, but he doesn't see any spell books. There are a few scraps of paper, with various symbols scribbled on, but no words.

 _Bad_ , the wolf sharing his body seems to say.

"Agreed," Keith murmurs. He turns to leave and comes face to face with _her_.

How the hell she managed to sneak up on him without him noticing - especially in his possessed state - he doesn't know. The woman's face is partially hidden under a hood, but Keith can see long scars trailing down her brown cheeks, cutting across the ends of her mouth. Long white hair hangs limp over her shoulders.

Instinct tells him to fight and he strikes out with his fist. But the woman dodges the blow and grabs his forearm. Keith screams. Her touch _burns!_ He yanks his arm free, clutching it protectively against his body, and takes a step back. He's trapped.

The woman raises her head slightly, studying him.

"Wolf," she says simply.

She knows.

"Don't come any closer!" Keith yells, but she's already moving, scooping up something from the counter beside her. Keith doesn't know what to do. If he starts a fire now, there's a chance he could destroy everything - all the evidence would be gone - and there's nothing electrical in here that he can draw on.

He has to run, to try and push past her.

He doesn't make it. Her hand slams down on his shoulder and she throws him back, the edge of the countertop digging sharply into his back. He cries out and she shoves something into his mouth, clamping her hand over it so that he can't spit it out. Keith chokes, struggling to breathe. He can feel the wolf spirit inside of him, desperately writhing, trying to get away- 

Then, just as suddenly, she lets him go, stepping away. He immediately reaches for his mouth, pulling out the- whatever it is, and throwing it on the floor. He stares down at it, breathing raggedly.

He feels faint, like he's about to fall unconscious, but he's wide awake. He looks down at his hands and watches as his fingers curl, realising with growing alarm that he's not moving them. Panic grips him as his body moves without his consent, stepping towards the doorway.

-

 _Keith is really fucking lucky,_ Pidge thinks angrily, _that I can track his life energy._

Otherwise, she's sure, she would not have been able to locate him at all. The way he took off running is probably at least partly the fault of the wolf spirit, but Pidge is still gonna tear him a new one when she finds him. If he's right and he _is_ heading towards the killer, then he shouldn't be going alone.

She's on the outskirts of town now, looking across a highway at what look like a bunch of abandoned industrial buildings. Keith is close now. Crossing the road, Pidge heads around the main building, gravel crunching under her sneakers. It takes her a moment to spot Keith, visible between two of the buildings on the left side of the parking lot. There's an open space there, covered in patchy grass and weeds.

"Keith!" Pidge calls out to him as she approaches. "Hey, did you find anything?"

As she gets closer, she senses that something's wrong. Then Keith turns, and as she catches sight of his face, the little voice screaming in the back of her head finally becomes clear. What she recognises as _Keith_ is muted, almost undetectable, while the wolf spirit is turned up so loud it's deafening. Pidge doesn't need an explanation; she knows exactly what a frightened, angry animal feels like.

"Shit."

Keith snarls and starts sprinting towards her. She barely has time to raise her arms in defence before he slams into her, his fingernails clawing long gashes into her arm. She falls, her phone falling out of her pocket as she lands in the grass. Scrambling to find her feet, she tries to reach out with her powers, but the wolf is inconsolable; it won't listen to her.

Keith is on her then, grabbing her ankle to drag her toward him, then pining her down with his body weight. His teeth snap together just inches from her face as she struggles to hold him back. He swipes at her viciously and she cries out as he scratches her cheek.

Terrified, she cries out for help, from anything that might be nearby. She's answered a moment later, as Keith jerks up, swatting furiously at the crows now mobbing him.

Pidge takes advantage of his distraction, kicking him sharply in the stomach before scrambling to her feet and taking off at a run. She can see a solitary tree a little way off and she makes a beeline for it. Reaching it, she braces a hand against the trunk, trying to catch her breath.

When she turns to look back, Keith is running after her, leaving a trail of dead birds in his wake. His face and arms are bleeding badly, but he shows no sign of slowing down.

Quickly, Pidge turns her attention back to the tree. There aren't any branches low enough for her to use to climb up. Raising her hand, she reaches out, willing one of the long branches to come to her. Slowly, it begins to bend. Too slowly; she can hear Keith behind her.

Then suddenly the branch whips down and there's an audible _smack_. Gasping in shock, Pidge turns to look back. Keith is lying in the grass, the force of the branch hitting him having knocked him quite a ways back.

Pidge braces her back against the tree trunk, sliding down to the ground. Tears spill from her eyes while the tree branch curls back down towards her. Keith is starting to get up again as she draws down a second branch to cover her other side, the tree's trunk bowing slightly behind her to allow it to reach.

This is _bad_. She's hurt and she has no idea how badly the blow from the tree might've injured Keith. It's getting dark, there's no-one around for miles, and she's lost her phone.

 _Help me,_ she calls out to anything that will listen. _Please, help me._

-

It's about to start raining but Lance is trying to hold it back just long enough for him and his dad to get the laundry in from outside. He feels a tug on his leg and looks down to find a cat pawing insistently at him.

"Not now, kitty. I'm kind've busy." The cat MRROOOWWWs angrily and jams its claws into his thigh. "OW! Hey, what the-" 

Lance stops, his mind racing. Animals suddenly really wanting his attention, like they're trying to tell him something. _Pidge._ He quickly checks his phone. No new messages or missed calls. But... With things being a bit scary lately, Pidge installed an app on his phone so that he could locate her phone if she was missing and he needed to find her. It has her last known location.

" _Papi_ , I need to go. I think Pidge is in trouble."

Stepping away from the house, ignoring his father's questions, Lance releases the rain. It's a full-on downpour, which is good; he'll need that power for what he wants to do. Closing his eyes and opening his arms, he quietly chants the words of the spell, followed by a quick prayer of thanks to Hunk for making him actually crack a book, because otherwise he wouldn't know how to do this.

Opening his eyes, he reaches out into the air in front of him, gathering the water at his fingertips, and then with both hands draws a wide circle. He takes a big breath, not sure how long he's going to need to hold it, and steps through the portal.

When he steps out again, his legs feel like jello. He coughs up a bit of water and quickly checks his phone again. He's at least in the right place, an abandoned industrial park on the outskirts of town. Pidge's last location was just beyond the buildings, so she has to be somewhere around here.

Lance turns on the flashlight on his phone and starts to search. He finds Pidge's cell in the grass behind one of the warehouses, the screen cracked. He swings the light around, searching for signs of movement. Then he hears what sounds like a growl.

Sprinting in the direction of the noise, he spots Pidge under a tree, its branches bowed and curled protectively around her. And beyond that shield...

"Keith?" Lance barely recognises him. He looks half-crazed; teeth bared, eyes wild, fingers curled like claws. Seeing Lance, he snarls and launches himself at his friend. Instinctively, Lance draws on the rain to form a barrier of water to push him back. Keith skids and rolls in the dirt, but quickly springs to his feet again. Steeling himself, Lance marches up to him, taking Keith's face in his hands.

"Keith, buddy! It's me, you stupid mullet-head. Look, I know I'm not exactly your favourite person, but you've never actually ripped my head off before. So don't start now, OK?"

Keith growls, low and dangerous. But then he blinks and his eyes seem to refocus. The next sound he makes is a soft whine.

"It's OK," Lance says softly, gently wrapping his arms around Keith's shoulders and drawing him into a hug. "You're OK."

-

Lance called his dad and he brought the car out to collect the three of them. He also called Hunk and Shiro, so they were already at his house when he got back. With the four of them, they were able to break the possession spell and heal the worst of Keith's injuries. Pidge tried to argue that they should leave hers and save their energy, but no-one was having that.

Now Keith is curled up on the sofa next to Lance, looking very sorry for himself, his bandaged arm clutched close to his chest and his head resting against Hunk's leg. His boyfriend strokes his hair gently. Pidge sits in a chair across from them, drowning in one of Lance's old hoodies, her legs drawn up against her chest.

Lance hears the front door open and close, as Hunk's parents arrive, then the muffled sound of the adults arguing in the other room. After a few minutes Shiro comes into the room.

"Everyone go home and get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Are you going to tell my parents?" Pidge asks, looking worried.

Shiro sighs.

"No, because I don't think they'll understand, and it won't do any good to worry them."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." There's a quiet anger in his voice. "You're lucky things didn't turn out worse tonight, that Lance got to you in time. But this has to stop. _Just let it go._ "

"But-" Keith's voice cuts off with a yelp as he tries to sit up and leans on his injured arm. Hunk pulls him up gently so that he can lean against him. "Shiro, please. She's out there. If we can do the spell to summon that Voltron defender thing, we could-"

"I said no!" The air in the room fairly vibrates with the force of Shiro's anger. "It's not our responsibility. We're done here."

-

When they get home, Keith follows Hunk to their bedroom. His arm still hurts, so he's not sure he's going to be able to sleep, but boy, is he tired. After being terrorised in the morgue, hosting the wolf, fighting the woman, then battling with Pidge, the crows and Lance, he's _exhausted_. He starts gathering his things to go change in the bathroom, but stops when he notices Hunk gathering up some of the pillows from the bed.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight," Hunk says without turning around.

Keith frowns. "You don't have to do that. If you're worried about my arm-"

"It's no about that," Hunk cuts him off.

"Then why?"

Hunk turns to face him and Keith's breath catches in his throat. Hunk has a really long fuse; it's so rare that he gets angry. But the way he looks now - his whole body tensed to the point of shattering, pillows held in a death-grip under one arm and his other hand balled into a tight fist - Keith knows he's furious.

"I'm really mad at you right now," Hunk grits out, "and I just need to be elsewhere for a while."

"I'm sorry," Keith tries. "But I had to do _something_ -"

" _YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!_ "

Keith shrinks back. "Hunk, I-"

"How could you be so reckless?!" Hunk demands angrily. "What the hell were you thinking, going after a _murderer_ on your _own?!_ "

"I can't just stand by and let her get away with it!" Keith insists. "We have all this power - you said yourself, we could do _anything_ \- but we just sit around doing nothing! People are dying, Hunk. Don't you care?"

"I care about _you!_ " Hunk yells desperately. "Keith, if something had happened to you, something worse than-" He runs a hand angrily through his hair. "It's not down to us to save the universe, OK? It's not our responsibility to save everyone."

They stand in silence for a moment before Hunk finally leaves, quietly shutting the bedroom door behind him.

For a while, Keith doesn't move. Then he slowly makes his way over to the bed and sets his clothes down. He changes as quickly as he can, careful to avoid catching his arm. Then, snagging the lion plush from the top of the chest of drawers, he turns out the light and crawls into bed.

It feels huge and empty without Hunk there. Keith curls up tight around the lion.

-

For the rest of the month, Shiro avoids the other members of the circle and, aside from Hunk checking in regularly to make sure he's OK, they don't bother him. However, he's not at all surprised when Pidge shows up at his apartment right after a new body is discovered. 

"You heard?" Pidge says grimly.

Shiro nods.

This is the fourth kill in this cycle and the pattern has continued as expected, with the right arm taken. But whatever guilt Shiro might feel is easily countered by his concern for his friends. Pidge and Keith's last stunt left him feeling quite shaken. He knows Keith especially can be impulsive, and that Pidge tends to think that she knows best, even when she's out of her depth. But this time their actions came so very close to having dire consequences.

"Can I come in?" Pidge asks.

"You should be in school," Shiro responds tightly.

"Damnit, Shiro, I need to talk to you!" Pidge snaps.

He doesn't answer, but turns and steps away from the door so that she can follow him inside. Reaching the kitchen, he slides into one of the chairs. He's tired and he strongly suspects that he'll feel even more so when this conversation is over.

"It's almost February," Pidge says bluntly, folding her arms across her chest. "It'll be the head next and then something's going to happen. We need to be prepared." Shiro sighs. "Hunk and I have been working on translating more of that book we found, with the Voltron spell-"

"Pidge, stop," Shiro interrupts. "You already know what I'm going to say. Didn't you learn anything from the mess you made? You need to back off from this before someone gets hurt, again."

"Yeah, well, I think it might be a bit late for that."

Shiro frowns. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Pidge insists. "We've been translating the book and I think-I think we've set something in motion. I've been having these dreams, about lions..."

"Lions?" Shiro sits up quickly.

"The book refers to this 'lion goddess'," Pidge continues, "and how the members of a circle can draw on her power by working together, like lions in a pride."

So when Lance identified the big cat spirit as a lion, he hadn't simply plucked the answer out of thin air. When Shiro had questioned him about it, he'd been evasive. Shiro suspected that something was going on, but frankly, he didn't really want to know. But Pidge and Hunk must've been sharing information with Lance; he knew about the translation.

"What happens in the dreams?" Shiro asks warily.

"In my dreams, I _am_ a lion." Pidge looks at him earnestly. "I do... lion stuff. Which is mostly hunting and sleeping. Which is really weird because, like, I'm asleep but I'm dreaming about being asleep. Did you know that lions can sleep for literally days on end?"

"And this started happening while you were translating the book?"

"Yes, but now it won't stop. I even left the book alone for a week, put all my translations away. But every time I close my eyes for more than five minutes, it's back to Discovery Channel and it's Lion Week."

Shiro closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I really should be saying 'I told you so'. This is some powerful magic and if you go off half-cocked, well, this happens." He sighs. "But I think you're right, you _have_ started something. You're not the only one having visions of lions."

Pidge's eyes widen. "You too?"

Shiro nods. "I think you should translate the rest of the book, find out as much as you can about what we're dealing with. But that's _all!_ Don't attempt any more spells, especially not on your own. Whatever we do, we should do it together, the five of us."

-

Sometimes Lance wishes he wasn't so close to turning eighteen, that he could just stay a kid forever. He stopped being the baby in the family years ago, but curled up next to his mom on the sofa like he is now, he can still pretend. He can be content just to be held, feeling safe and warm while she strokes his hair gently.

He doesn't want to think about the latest murder, or the woman who committed it. But his mind keeps drifting back to the thought of a mother somewhere out there, whose child will never cuddle up to her again. He can't just ignore it, or the unknown threat looming on the horizon.

" _Mami_?"

"Yes, _nene_?" She looks down at him, concerned.

"Do you... Do you have any idea _why_ someone would do this?" He sits up carefully. "These killings aren't random. All these parts... We think they're for building something."

His mother sighs, momentarily returning her gaze to the TV screen in front of them. "You've been researching it with your friends?"

"Yeah. But we haven't found a reason. The woman, she's not a natural witch. In fact, Hunk doesn't think that she's a witch at all. There aren't any other spells like this. This ritual, it's..."

"Unnatural," his mother supplies.

Lance blinks. "Y-yeah."

"Sometimes people want power, people who aren't born with it, but they're not willing to work with those who are. They're not content with what they can achieve naturally, so they use shortcuts to get what they want. They force magic to behave in ways it shouldn't."

"How?" Lance asks nervously.

"By stealing from others. By killing living things and collecting their quintessence, using it to create magic that's artificial, disconnected."

"Is that what this woman is doing?"

"Based on Keith's description of her 'workshop', yes, I think it is."

"So, what should we do?"

She smiles at him fondly, gently touching his cheek. "Exactly what you have done. You passed the information along to the police. It's up to them to investigate."

"But... the police don't know how to deal with magic."

"They don't need to. It's not a witch they're dealing with." She frowns slightly. "Promise me you'll stay away from all this now. You've already done everything you could."

Lance swallows thickly. "I promise."

-

"How's your arm?" Lance asks.

Keith grimaces. While his injury is greatly improved, it still hurts whenever he touches it. He keeps forgetting and accidentally leaning on it. All his other wounds healed without any problem, but the place where the woman touched his skin remains discoloured and sore. Marie said she'd never seen anything like it. She even took him to a hospital in the city, where she was friends with some of the staff, to get some scans done discreetly, but it didn't provide any answers.

"Don't worry," Lance assures him. "This'll take your mind off it."

"What exactly are we going to do?" Keith asks, warily eyeing the two metal buckets that Lance has just set down between them, standing in the field behind his house. When Lance asked him to come over after school, he'd been confused, thinking that he must've meant him _and_ Hunk. But no, Lance just wanted him.

"Fight," Lance answers simply.

"What?" Keith says, incredulous. 

"I think we all know Shiro can handle himself in a fight," Lance says, counting off on his fingers as he turns to face him. "Hunk can make earthquakes; as long as he's standing on planet Earth he's always going to be in his element. And Pidge has got the whole of the animal kingdom at her beck and call, so she's covered."

Keith briefly considers pointing out the flaws in Lance's logic, before deciding it's not worth the breath. "Which leaves us?"

"Right. Our powers are a bit more 'hands-on', so they require a different approach."

Keith is getting impatient. "What are we _doing_ here, Lance?"

"We need to learn to defend ourselves. We don't know what's coming, or when, so we need to be ready."

"So, what? You want me to _attack_ you?" Keith shakes his head. "I'm not gonna fight you, Lance. My powers are-"

"-the exact opposite of mine. They cancel each other out. It's perfectly safe!"

Keith sighs heavily. He knows arguing is pointless. "OK, fine, but if I kill you, it's _your_ fault."

"Dude, you're not gonna kill me. You couldn't even if you tried."

"Seriously?" Keith bristles. "Have you even seen my powers?"

"Why don't you light up that bucket and show me?"

Keith scowls down at the two buckets, one filled with water, and the other with bits of wood and paper, presumably for him to burn. He lights it without even moving, turning to face Lance instead. He's grinning, walking backwards to put some distance between them. Keith does the same, then raises his fists and-

-gets splashed right in the face.

Lance laughs. "C'mon, Keith! I can't practise if you don't-whoa!" He narrowly dodges the fireball Keith throws. "That's better!"

It's actually kind of fun, Keith finds, running around the field taking shots at one another. After goading him into actual violence, he's relieved to find that Lance deflects all of his attacks easily, flames sputtering out before they can make contact.

Eventually they meet in the middle, hands raised to fire a continuous barrage, trying to drive each other back. But neither element will give way. Instinctively, Keith digs deeper, drawing on-

There's a deafening _CRACK_ and Keith stares in horror at the steaming patch of ground at Lance's feet. Lance is breathing hard, his eyes wide with shock.

"What the fuck?!" Lance exclaims. "Did you just throw _a lightning bolt_ at me?!"

"Did you just _stop_ a lightning bolt?!" Keith fires back.

They stare at one another for a long moment, Keith's heart pounding fast. It's OK. Lance is OK, but... Cautiously, they both approach the smoking hole in the ground.

"And here we are without our nerds to tell us what the proper science name for whatever that is is," Lance says, pointing at the weird rock thing. Keith bites his lip. Hunk would know what it was called. "Let's, uh, let's take a break."

Lance plops down on the grass and Keith joins him. He's not sure how he feels about what just happened. Except that it would've been really useful if he'd known he could do that a few weeks ago. Still, it was kind of scary.

"Lance, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How can I make things right with Hunk?"

Lance gives him an appraising look. "He's still mad at you?"

Keith nods unhappily. Hunk's still not talking to him. Well, he _is_ talking to him, he's just not _talking to him_. Hunk's polite, even helpful, but it's all impersonal, distant. There's no intimacy in their conversations. It almost hurts more than if Hunk was completely ignoring him.

"Hey, don't worry," Lance says, putting an arm around Keith's shoulders. "He'll come around. You had a fight. It happens. Doesn't change how he feels about you."

"I hope you're right," Keith says, resting his head against Lance's shoulder.

"I always am, Keith. I always am."

-

If there's one thing that having a tiny apartment is really not good for, it's pacing. Shiro's been wearing a hole in the already thin carpet in his bedroom, waiting for the rest of the circle to arrive. He's been thinking all day about what to say to them.

This morning the police announced to the public that they'd found another body, decapitated, and the head was missing, exactly like the circle predicted. What they don't know is what's going to happen next.

Shiro supposes that they might've anticipated something after the first cycle of killings, but the pattern wasn't so obvious with the missing organs. There's also a possibility that there could be a third cycle still to come. But Shiro's gut tells him that, no, whatever is going to happen is going to happen much sooner than that.

At the sound of knocking, he hurries to his front door and opens it quickly.

"Hey," Hunk says, his smile tense. Keith follows him silently past Shiro, heading for the kitchen. Peering outside, Shiro can already see Lance and Pidge coming down the street, walking side by side, both of them with their hands shoved deep into their coat pockets.

Lance offers Shiro a small smile as he passes him, but Pidge stays quiet as Shiro shuts the door behind her.

"You OK?" he asks, a little concerned.

"Yeah. Just nervous."

 _Tell me about it_ , Shiro thinks.

They go through to join the others. Pidge slips into the chair opposite Hunk and Shiro leans back against his kitchen counter, curling his hand around the edge. He feels like he should be the one to speak first, having asked them all here, but he suddenly has no idea what to say.

"Maybe it'll just stop now," Hunk - ever the optimist - suggests, looking between them. "Like, maybe that's it and nothing else happens."

Lance shakes his head. "Nah. She's collecting parts to make a monster."

Keith frowns at him. "How do you know it's going to be a monster?"

"Because it's always a monster," Lance says matter-of-factly. "Even if they're not aiming for 'monster', that's always where it ends up."

"This isn't a movie, Lance," Pidge says, scowling.

"But... how would that even work?" Keith asks. "How's she going to build the body without a torso?"

The three of them start bickering, with Hunk fretting quietly in the background. Shiro bites his lip, clutching the counter tighter. Maybe they _could_ fight a monster, but that's not what he's afraid of.

He clears his throat. "Hunk, did you find anything in _The Book of Lions_?"

"Oh, yeah," Hunk brightens, talking over the others, "many things. Not all of them all that useful, though. I found some recipes - not even spells, _recipes_ \- that are just _weird_ -"

"If something does happen, do you think we'll be able to... form Voltron?"

The others fall silent as soon as the magic word is uttered. Hunk sits up straighter.

"Yeah. I'm pretty confident about the incantations, and we have all the items and ingredients we'd need."

"So, we fight?" Keith asks, looking directly at Shiro.

" _If_ something happens, we protect the town-"

" _She_ won't hesitate to kill us," Keith insists. "I know it. We should strike first, before she has a chance to complete the monster-"

"Witches don't kill, Keith," Lance addresses the implication in his words. "It's one of the rules."

"But we know what she's done!" Keith is incredulous. "If we wait-"

"The book says Voltron is for defence," Shiro says, trying to keep his voice even. "We can't- I-I won't-"

They're all looking at him now, waiting. They know there's something that he hasn't voiced yet. He straightens, dragging his hand roughly through his hair.

"The last combat situation I was in," he begins carefully, "before I left the Army, I was-I was caught in an explosion. It killed my best friend and I was hurt pretty bad." He tries to swallow the lump in his throat. "Bad enough that-that I lost control."

He lets those words hang in the air for a moment before he continues, "I still don't know how many people I killed. Most of them were enemy combatants and, unsurprisingly, they weren't in any hurry to share their casualty numbers with us." He shakes his head, as though he could somehow shake free the memory and throw it away. "I-I just reacted; it was indiscriminate, a complete vacuum. I just sucked all the oxygen right out of the air-"

A choked sob escapes him suddenly and he slaps his hand over his mouth. He wants to curl in on himself, to implode and disintegrate.

But instead, he feels arms wrapping round his middle, hands settling on his shoulders and in the crook of his arm, someone else's forehead leaning gently against his. He feels the warmth of shared magic, the connection of the circle.

"It's OK, Shiro," he hears Hunk say softly, his breath warm against Shiro's knuckles as he cries. "We're here."

-

With another five-murder cycle complete, Pidge is really wishing that spring would get here sooner. She's beyond ready to shake off the darkness and rejuvenate. She can feel the fresh shoots of hope pricking at the surface of reality, but until they come up, at least there are some small pockets of respite. Like right now.

It's February 15th or, as Lance likes to call it, Discount Chocolate Day. He insisted that the circle get together and celebrate the occasion by gorging themselves. However, despite being blessed with a metabolism that's frequently a law unto itself, this time he might have finally bitten off more than he can chew. Because currently he's lying prone on Hunk's couch and has been groaning like he's dying for about five minutes straight.

Unlike Shiro, who had the good sense to quit while he was ahead, or Hunk, who is somehow still slowly eating chocolates and has yet to exhibit any ill effects whatsoever. Pidge stopped eating a few minutes ago because she was starting to feel queasy. Keith, of course, is completely unscathed, being immune to the sweet siren call of heart-shaped chocolates.

He is, however, currently eyeing Lance like a cat watching a bird on a fence. Without actually moving from the spot where he's crouched on the floor in front of the sofa, he slowly raises his head so that he can peak over the edge at Lance's exposed belly. One finger flicks out like a claw and slowly advances.

Seeing it, Lance lets out a feeble whine of complaint: "Dooon't." When Keith ignores him, he bats weakly at his friend's hand. "Keeeiiith, stop it." But it seems that in his weakened state he can't actually summon the strength to move himself out of harm's way.

Pidge clears her throat and puts on her best wildlife documentarian voice. "Lions usually target the weakest members of the herd: the old, sick and infirm-"

"You're infirm!" Lance yells, but his voice cuts off into a yelp as Keith goes in for 'the kill', poking him viciously in the stomach.

"I hate you," Lance pouts, earning himself another sharp poke, this time in the ribs. This _finally_ prompts him to attempt to defend himself, rolling onto his side so that he can grab hold of his attacker.

After a significant amount of flailing around and hair-pulling, Lance finally crosses a line by snatching the flower crown off of Keith's head.

Neither Hunk nor Keith have actually said anything about the previous day's activities. But the fact that they were both noticeably absent from school, and were sporting matching red and yellow flower crowns when Pidge arrived at their house today, is clear evidence that _something_ went down.

Pidge glances over at Hunk, who doesn't seem to be in any hurry to go help his boyfriend. Then again, that might have something to do with the fact that Keith and Lance are now wrestling for dominance on the couch. Pidge rolls her eyes.

"Still got lions on the brain?" Shiro asks, stroking her hair sympathetically.

"The inside of my skull is still wallpapered with them, yes," Pidge responds tiredly.

"What do you think it means?"

"That I should embrace my inner predator? That teamwork is the key? The only thing I know for sure is I am ready to change the channel."

-

Keith is shaken awake as the bed moves beneath him. He sits bolt upright, the candles on his bedside table flaring to life.

For a moment, everything is quiet save for the sound of his heart thudding in his ears. Then a second quake shakes the room. The pictures on the walls rattle, then fall from their hooks. One of the clay lions slips off its shelf and lands with a dull thud on the carpet.

"Hunk! Hunk, wake up!" Keith shakes his boyfriend vigorously.

"Nuh..." Hunk protests in his sleep. "No, Pidge. Mr possum doesn't want to wake up today..."

Keith lets out a huff of exasperation. It's been a while since Hunk last had a nightmare about that damn zombie possum. It's never prompted such a dramatic reaction before either, but Keith can wonder about that later. Right now he has to wake Hunk up. Reaching over, he slaps Hunk's cheek as hard as he can.

"What's'at? Wha's happ'ning?" Hunk sits up, looking bewildered.

"You were having a nightmare," Keith says. "You made an earthquake."

"Oh, sorry. I was-" Hunk starts to apologise, but then the ground beneath them shudders violently. Keith grabs onto Hunk's arm to keep from falling. "That... That wasn't me."

They stare at one another, wide-eyed, for an instant. Then they're both scrambling out of bed. They head for the front of the house and Hunk quickly unlocks the front door. As he flings it open and they step outside, Keith has only one thought: he's so glad Hunk's parents are away right now.

The creature (Keith has no idea what else to call it) towers far above the houses. It's a tangled mess of debris - dark grey mud, cracked concrete, twisted metal, dead trees. Its shape might be vaguely humanoid, except its limbs are stretched unnaturally long, and its 'face' is featureless and hollow.

As it takes another step toward them, the ground quakes from the impact. Yet the patch of ground that Keith stands on remains unmoved, even as he watches the ripples all around it. He looks over at his boyfriend and realises that Hunk is protecting him.

"Go, get the knife and the other stuff we prepared," Hunk says in that stiffly calm tone that Keith knows means he's screaming internally. "I think this qualifies as an emergency."

-

Hunk sets out the items needed for the spell on the rug in the living room, then carefully checks that they have everything. The others are knocking at the front door before Keith has even unlocked his phone to call them. Lance must've teleported them, Hunk realises. His friend is breathing hard as he says, "We need Voltron."

"I think everything's ready," Hunk assures him. "But we'll have to do the spell in English. There isn't time for everyone to learn the correct pronunciation in Swahili."

Switching languages doesn't usually affect spells, so long as enough of the original meaning is retained, but it's still not a gamble Hunk would've taken under normal circumstances. However, right now they don't really have a choice.

"It'll work," Pidge says and Shiro nods in agreement.

Everyone takes a seat on the rug and Keith hands the others each a sheet with the instruction for the spell on. Carefully Hunk wraps the red ribbon around the blade of the knife, making sure to leave four loops of ribbon loose for the four of them to grasp. He places the knife in the middle of the circle, then takes a look around at his friends.

"Everyone ready?"

They all nod.

"OK, here goes..." Shiro says nervously.

When he was preparing the spell, Hunk agonised over how Shiro should place his hands. The spell required both hands, and any link made with Shiro's flesh hand would surely be stronger than one formed with his air hand. But there was no way to be sure which connection was most important. Or if it would even work...

Shiro grasps the handle of the knife with his air hand, the movement only visible because of the way the knife tilts slightly off the floor. Then Pidge reaches for the first loop of the ribbon, hooking her fingers in it. Hunk does the same with the next loop, then Lance follows suit, and finally Keith, so that they're all holding the ribbon.

Then they close the circle. Shiro reaches out with his left hand and grasps Pidge's right wrist. She takes hold of Hunk's wrist, he takes hold of Lance's, and Lance reaches over to clasp Keith's. Finally Keith's fingers close around Shiro's invisible right wrist.

Shiro takes a deep breath before he speaks the first incantation: "I am Air, sister of Sky, and I go forth to give what is mine."

"I am Fire, sister of Dark, and I go forth to give what is mine," Keith responds.

"I am Water, sister of Sun, and I go forth to give what is mine," Lance replies.

"I am Earth, sister of Ground, and I go forth to give what is mine," Hunk answers.

"I am Life, sister of Death, and I go forth to give what is mine," Pidge finishes.

-

They have form. It is completely familiar, yet entirely new. They extend Their arms, flex Their fingers, testing, adjusting. Five move as one, as though They had always been that way. They thrill a little at the power. But this is not why They were formed.

Carefully, They allow Their senses to reach out. The threat is outside, beyond this structure. They need to go to it. They leave the space, heading along the passageway to the structure's exit. Standing just beyond that opening, They tilt Their head up to observe.

The creature is crudely constructed, heavy upon the earth. It was probably sculpted in haste. On its outside there are no discernible features, but They know that the tangled mass is just a shell; the power lies buried within.

As They move towards the creature, They reach out to the elements, drawing the world in around Them. A storm is already gathering in the sky above Them. Rain begins to fall is sharp sheets, as the first sparks of lightning light up the gathering clouds.

The trees guarding the structures on either side of the path reach out to grasp the creature's ankles, pointed branches piercing its legs like thorns. The ground beneath its feet cracks and gives way, so that the creature sinks. The earth shifts and rises up, beginning to bury it.

It must recognise the danger, because it bends, stretching one long arm down, its hand opening ready to snatch Them up. But before its fingers can close, lightning strikes its wrist. Flames burst from the pieces of wood embedded in its flesh, jumping and climbing up its arm. It withdraws, perhaps not aware of pain, but aware nonetheless.

They reach for the cracks, seeking out all the hidden seams in the mass of moulded flesh. The fire leaves burnt out cavities in its wake, and the rainwater pools in the gaps, filling up the spaces and forcing its way down into the depths of the creature's body.

There is nothing here that They don't recognise, that They don't own. With almost casual curiosity, They begin tearing away pieces of wood and metal, gouging out lumps of mud and stone. With a wave of Their hand, They draw down a funnel from the sky above. The spiralling gusts of wind catch on the creature's loosened flesh, pulling large sections free and casting them aside.

With the air, fire and water, They drill inwards, seeking, while the soil, stone, metal and wood push outwards, expelling the mismatched items lodged within the creature. One by one, the human parts fall free of the mass, limbs and organs plummeting to the ground. Little by little, the creature is losing its form. As They rip the heart and lungs from its chest, it finally comes apart, collapsing into rubble.

It is done.

Their purpose achieved, They draw back the elements; clearing the sky, settling the earth. The world stills once more and They relax with it. They feel elation, and relief.

Then, suddenly, They are parted.

-

Lance returns to his own body only to feel the life and magic being dragged from it. It all makes sense now. They were all so focused on protecting the town. They never could figure out why it had been targeted. But it was never about the town. The real target was the circle. It was their emerging power that attracted the woman in the first place.

Keith recognises the woman immediately, staring down at their prone bodies from where she's standing in the middle of their circle. He can feel the magic being pulled out of him, wrenched out of every cell in his body. It's like the circle's connection in reverse; the warm flow of shared magic replaced with the icy cold of emptiness.

Shiro feels relief, even as he senses his life ebbing away. There will be no reaction this time, no instinctive lashing out. He won't hurt anyone else as he dies. It's cold comfort, but at least it's something. It's all he has. He doesn't want to die, doesn't want the others to die. But there's nothing they can do now. Voltron is gone.

Pidge wants to fight, to strike out at her enemy. But her body won't respond and her magic feels as though it's slipping through her fingers like sand. She can't reach anything, or anyone, not even the others. It feels like the emptiness is swallowing her whole. As she drowns in it, she suddenly realises what she has to do.

Hunk watches, helpless, as his friends' life is taken from them. He's never felt so helpless in his life, never known with such absolute certainty that there is no way out. Exhaustion, weakness, dread - these he knows, has lived with, has accepted as his companions before. But this is different.

Then Pidge reaches out to him. She grasps his hand, and with the last of his strength Hunk reaches for Lance's hand, his fingers closing around it. He feels it as Lance reaches for Keith, and Keith for Shiro. There may be no power left between them, but Hunk feels the circle's _connection_ restored.

The incantation Pidge utters is in the original Swahili, so Hunk is the only one who recognises the words: "I am Death, sister of Life, and I come to take back what is mine."

The woman freezes.

She remains stock still, trapped, as Pidge starts to feel a tingling sensation at the edge of her consciousness. Then Shiro's magic, his very life, begins flowing back into him; a thin trickle at first, growing into a stronger current, then a sudden flood. Keith gasps. He can feel the others, the circle, their power pooling, collecting. Lance rises to his knees, then slowly to his feet. Hunk follows as the last of the circle's power returns to them.

The woman has fallen to her knees, her head bowed and hands raised to her throat, as though to stop something from choking her. At last she stills, and the circle feel themselves settling, their restored powers returning to their rightful place.

Slowly, the woman picks herself up, standing on shaky legs. She walks unsteadily towards the open doorway of living room. No-one moves to stop her. A few long moments later, the front door of the house opens and closes.

Shiro releases Keith's hand, noting hazily that the discoloured skin on his friend's arm is now gone. Stiffly, he gets up and makes his way over to the couch. Hunk won't mind if he sleeps here. He's already in his pyjamas; they all are. It's time to sleep.

Pidge watches as Shiro collapses onto Hunk's couch, and yawns reflexively. Releasing Hunk's hand, she taps the tracker on her wrist. The glowing digits on the screen inform her that's it's 3:33 AM. With some effort, she picks herself up and heads for the nearest armchair.

Hunk watches Pidge clamber onto the chair, curl up and fall asleep. Then he rises to his feet, not letting go of Lance and extending his hand to Keith. His boyfriend takes it, and Hunk pulls him to his feet. Then he leads them both through to his bedroom.

Keith heads straight to the right side of the bed, crawling gratefully under the covers and burying his face in the pillow. He can't keep his eyes open for another second. He feels the bed dip as Hunk gets in beside him. They're safe now.

Lance lies down on the left side of the bed and carefully pulls the covers up. It's a cold night. Normally, he might have trouble sleeping without all the particular comforts of home. But he's just so exhausted right now, he thinks if he just closes his eyes, he...


	5. It's more than just superstition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) In this chapter, warnings for - the odd curse word, brief nudity, description of a panic attack.  
> 2) Thanks as always to [Rhi](http://thebonepilot.tumblr.com/) for being an excellent beta reader and sense checker!  
> 3) It _is_ actually the final chapter this time, though I'd like to revisit this AU at some point with more stories (and some answers to the questions I _didn't_ cover).  
>  4) If you enjoy reading this, please comment and let me know. It's always great to hear from people.

Pidge pushes up her glasses to rub irritably at her eyes. After several days (she's lost track of exactly how many it's been) of next to no sleep, her eyes are permanently itchy and she feels like there's sand under her skin. She doesn't know how much longer she can keep this up.

She heaves a sigh that mutates into a yawn, and refocuses on the laptop screen in front of her.

**WaterWitch: hows Shiro doing?  
CarrierPigeon: tired  
CarrierPigeon: he's taking a cold shower  
CarrierPigeon: hoping it'll keep him awake  
MadeOutOfClay: tell him i'm sorry  
WaterWitch: not your fault dude**

Except it _is_ his fault, Hunk thinks. He's responsible for the mess they're in. He was the one who started translating the Book of Lions. He was the one who prepared the Voltron spell. He was the one who insisted that they needed to use it.

His mom was right, he should've just left the book alone. How could he be so stupid? He's way out of his depth here. Forming Voltron connected the circle in such a powerful way that now they can't disconnect. Even with all of their parents (even Pidge's) searching for a solution, days after they cast the spell they still don't have the first clue how to make it stop.

What if it isn't reversible? What if the five of them are stuck like this for the rest of their lives? What if the others end up hating him for doing this to them?

Maybe Lance already hates him. Maybe Keith will never forgive him.

His fingers hover over the keyboard in front of him. He almost doesn't dare look up at the screen.

**WaterWitch: you sure there wasn't an undo spell in that book?  
CarrierPigeon: negative  
CarrierPigeon: no known way to unform voltron  
MadeOutOfClay: i wish i could see you guys  
MadeOutOfClay: feels weird avoiding you**

Pidge agrees, it does feel weird. But weird is better than the alternative.

At least if they keep their distance and stick to written online communication, their thoughts and speech don't overlap. They did try talking on the phone on the first day, but even then they soon started saying each others' 'lines'. The stomach-turning disorientation of hearing the words she was intending to speak come out of someone else's mouth, even as her own vocal cords got hijacked to produce someone else's response, is not something Pidge ever wants to experience again. Right now this group chat on her private server is the only way they can really have a conversation.

Unconscious, though, not even the distance makes any difference. It's like when they're asleep, they all end up in the same shared dream-space. Every time more than one of them falls asleep, the others find themselves stuck inside the dream of whoever dropped off first, with no way out except to wake up.

Physical contact, even through clothes, equals instant hivemind. Their minds just bleed together until they can't tell any more whose thought or feeling they're experiencing.

Being here with Shiro in his apartment means a much higher risk of all of that happening, but Pidge just _can't_ be at home right now. She knows her parents only want to help, but having to deal with all this and explain it to them at the same time is more than she can handle. She'd rather take her chances with Shiro.

His thoughts are like the constant hum of server fans in the back of her head.

**WaterWitch: btw Pidge you can have your cramps back any time you want  
MadeOutOfClay: she can't help the timing  
CarrierPigeon: everyone knows periods always start at the WORST possible moment in the month  
CarrierPigeon: can't fight nature  
WaterWitch: no seriously  
WaterWitch: how do you go to school like this?  
WaterWitch: how do you even stand up? D:  
CarrierPigeon: lots of practice  
CarrierPigeon: and painkillers  
WaterWitch: on the plus side it's keeping me awake! :D  
MadeOutOfClay: see there's always a silver lining  
CarrierPigeon: there is no silver lining when the uterus lining exits the body  
CarrierPigeon: none!**

Lance adjusts his grip on his phone as he hunkers down in his nest of pillows and blankets, hugging the heating pad against himself. He's not sure that it's even doing anything (probably because he doesn't actually _have_ a uterus) but the warmth is vaguely comforting all the same. 

He doesn't really get how this connection works. Wouldn't sharing the pain between the five of them reduce it? But then that would mean that Pidge is normally in five times as much pain as this and that can't be right. If Lance were feeling five times the pain he's feeling now, he thinks he might die. Maybe Pidge's powers are amplifying it somehow, because it's connected to life and birth and all that nature stuff?

Maybe they're all just shit out of luck.

Lance already knows how this is gonna go. He's seen _Nightmare On Elm Street_ and all its sequels. He's even seen the crappy remake. Sooner or later they're all gonna fall asleep. He's just hoping that he's not the first to go, because there are some dreams that he definitely does not want to share with the group. He's already seen just how badly that can go. It wasn't a complete surprise that Hunk would dream about him. He just hadn't realised quite how... detailed those dreams might get.

When he'd woken up, on the morning after all the Voltron stuff went down, he'd found himself standing at the foot of Hunk's bed. Keith was standing next to him. It should've struck Lance as weird from the get-go, but dream logic apparently applied even if you weren't the active dreamer. When he'd looked back at the bed he'd seen himself - another him - and another Keith sitting there next to Hunk. That other him was kissing Hunk. And then he was kissing Keith. But not the real Keith, the other Keith. The real Keith had just been standing there next to Lance, watching right along with him, and he was _so_ not OK with what he was seeing.

Then Lance had caught Hunk's eye and that was the point when he'd realised- when they'd _both_ realised that something wasn't quite right. God, the look on Hunk's face in that moment. It wasn't just an extra weird dream. He and Keith should not have been there. They shouldn't have seen that.

But it's not like it's a bad thing, right? If anything he should be flattered. Clearly Hunk thinks he's hot. Hot enough to dream about making out with him, about watching him make out with Keith. And sure, Lance can talk shit about Keith all the live long day, but he doesn't completely _hate_ the idea of making out with him. Keith's actually kind of attractive in a-

But that's not the point! It wasn't _him_. It wasn't his choice. And if he's really being honest with himself, it was seriously uncomfortable to watch.

**MadeOutOfClay: you guys getting anything from Keith?  
CarrierPigeon: nothing specific  
WaterWitch: think it'd get to you first bro  
WaterWitch: you're in the same building  
CarrierPigeon: he's not there with you now?  
MadeOutOfClay: no he's in the bathroom  
MadeOutOfClay: locked himself in  
MadeOutOfClay: will only talk to my mom  
MadeOutOfClay: i'm really worried about him  
CarrierPigeon: which mom?  
WaterWitch: doctor mom  
WaterWitch: it's doctor mom right Hunk?  
CarrierPigeon: is he sick?  
MadeOutOfClay: I don't know  
MadeOutOfClay: maybe  
WaterWitch: it's probably just Pidge's cramps**

It's not the cramps, Hunk is sure. And it's not the fear of their thoughts getting tangled up, either. He and Keith have been inside each others' heads before. No, there's only one reason he can think of that Keith wouldn't want to be around him.

He wishes he could take it back, that he'd never dreamed it, never even _thought_ it. Keith hasn't said anything about it, but how could he with what's going on right now? Having any conversation in person is practically impossible, so it would make sense that if Keith were upset he wouldn't want to talk about it right now.

So much of the time, things between the two of them are so intense. It's easy to forget that there's so much they haven't had a chance to actually talk about. Surely Keith has fantasies too, but Hunk has no idea what they might be. It's frustrating to feel so close to someone whilst still knowing so little about them. Relationships take work, Hunk knows that, but sometimes things with Keith feel deceptively easy. Or at least they used to.

Right now all he's got to go on is the quiet hissing of Keith's thoughts, like a smouldering fire in spitting rain, just off the edge of his consciousness.

With a sigh, he returns his attention to the computer screen.

**CarrierPigeon: i've been thinking  
WaterWitch: uh-oh >.>  
CarrierPigeon: about the people that came back  
MadeOutOfClay: ?  
CarrierPigeon: i found a bunch of other reports online  
CarrierPigeon: about missing animals being found months later  
CarrierPigeon: dead pets suddenly turning up alive and well  
WaterWitch: you think they're connected?  
WaterWitch: to voltron?  
MadeOutOfClay: was it a side effect of the spell?**

Given their (over-)connectivity problem post Voltron, it took the circle a while to notice the news reports. It wasn't what Pidge expected; there was nothing about giant monsters attacking their town. It was something else.

The stories were of miraculous resurrections, the unexplained revival of all ten of the still-unidentified killer's human victims. There were some feeble attempts to pass some of it off as misdiagnosed death, people accidentally buried alive. But even setting aside the missing organs and body parts, some of them had been _cremated_.

The ability of normal people to bullshit over stuff they don't understand never ceases to amaze Pidge.

Deep down, she knows what really happened. Not in the way that she knows how to code in C++, but in the way that she knows she doesn't like peanuts. She feels it. When she spoke the reverse incantation, she took back more than just the circle's stolen power from the woman. Six months worth of death and destruction, including the loss of ten human lives, was wiped away like it never happened.

This wasn't like her experiments in necromancy or the zombie animals she briefly reanimated. This was on a whole other level. For an instant she'd held life and death in her hands. Like it was nothing.

She doesn't know how she feels about that. It's hard to think straight when she's so tired and so much of her energy is being used just to keep herself separate from the others. She keeps thinking about what Shiro said, how he described losing control, becoming like a force of nature. But she _was_ in control. It was deliberate. And the others were with her.

How ironic that that connection to them, the one that made her all-powerful, is the same one that's now weakening her almost to the point of helplessness. Right now she doesn't feel like she could use her powers, even if she wanted to. She's just so tired.

**WaterWitch: so what you're saying is  
WaterWitch: we saved the day AND brought the victims back to life  
WaterWitch: without it going wrong  
WaterWitch: nice! :D  
MadeOutOfClay: :)  
WaterWitch: maybe the spell will just wear off eventually?  
CarrierPigeon: does it look like it's wearing off to you?  
CarrierPigeon: it's been DAYS  
CarrierPigeon: we can't go without sleep  
CarrierPigeon: and we can't use magic to compensate  
CarrierPigeon: can't risk it backfiring  
MadeOutOfClay: we'll find some way to fix it  
MadeOutOfClay: we have to  
WaterWitch: so  
WaterWitch: anyone want to volunteer to fall asleep first? :)**

-

Pidge's head jerks up sharply as she wakes. She groans, arching her back and closing her eyes again. It's so tempting to just keep them closed and go back to sleep. But no, she can't. With great reluctance, she forces her eyes open and refocuses on the laptop screen in front of her.

"Um, Pidge?"

"Gah! Lance!" she yells in surprise, fumbling to keep a hold of her computer. Lance is standing right in front of her, still in his pyjamas. "Oh my god, you fell asleep, didn't you?"

"So did you!" he fires back.

Pidge groans again, louder this time, and sets the laptop down beside her on the bed.

"Gotta say, I figured you'd have a little more imagination," Lance says, frowning disapprovingly at her. "This is literally exactly where you were when you were awake."

Pidge responds with a scowl. "Just be glad it's not something weird."

Lance pulls a face at the thought, scrunching up his nose. "So... what do we do?"

"We find a way to wake up, before-"

A desperate cry cuts her off and both their heads whip round to stare at the door of the ensuite bathroom.

"Shiro!" they exclaim in unison. Pidge scrambles off the bed and together they rush over, flinging the door open.

_This isn't my dream_ , is the first thought that hits Pidge as she takes in the sight in front of them.

Shiro has wedged himself into the corner of the shower stall, back pressed desperately up against the tiles. Standing in front of him, blocking his exit, is Matt. Both of them are completely naked. Matt's saying something, but Pidge can't make out the words over the sound of the shower. _Why is the water so loud?_ What she _can_ hear is Shiro. He sounds like, like he's _choking_ , struggling to breathe. His whole body is trembling, his eyes wide in frozen horror, and when Matt reaches for him, he flinches, smacking against the wall behind him. There's nowhere to go.

Pidge looks desperately at Lance. "Is this-?"

"No, it-it must be Shiro's. But he..."

Lance looks as confused as Pidge feels. This scene doesn't make any sense. Surely this should be a good dream for Shiro? But instead... instead he looks terrified.

"You have to wake him up!" Lance yells at her.

"Me? But I-"

"You're physically _there_ , Pidge," Lance insists. "You have to help him!"

Pidge closes her eyes and tries to focus.

_Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake u-_

-

Pidge comes to exactly where she left off, sitting at the end of Shiro's bed with her laptop resting on her crossed legs. The bedroom is quiet, save for the shower that she can still hear running inside the bathroom.

Carefully she sets aside the laptop and slides off the bed. Making her way over to the bathroom, she hesitates with her hand on the door handle. She already knows it's not locked; Shiro trusts her to give him his privacy.

_What if..._ What if they're wrong and he's actually fine? It's just a dream after all. He'll wake up from it eventually-

But she can feel it, the panic. Even at this distance, without touching him, the distress is so _loud_. She can't just leave him like this.

"I'm sorry, Shiro," she whispers as she pushes the door open.

Shiro is sat in the bottom of the shower, in the same corner he was backed into in the dream. Cautiously Pidge crosses the tiny room and slides back the shower door. Shiro's head is bowed and his eyes are closed; somehow he's still asleep. But his body is coiled tight, his breathing ragged: the same desperate, choking breaths he was taking in the dream.

"S-Shiro?" she tries, then a little louder, "Shiro?" He doesn't react. Biting her lip, Pidge crouches down and reaches for his shoulder. She shakes him, gently at first, then harder. "Shiro, you need to wake up!"

Startled, she almost falls backwards when Shiro wakes with a gasp, his flesh hand scrabbling at the wall. For a horrible instant he's still trapped in the nightmare, desperately trying to get away. But after a couple of beats he starts coming back to himself, and as reality sinks in, he finally focuses on her. His breaths keep coming in stops and starts.

"It-It's OK, Shiro," Pidge says uncertainly. She's not really sure if it _is_ OK. "You were just dreaming. I had to wake you up."

Shiro swallows, frantically searching for composure, trying to get himself back under control. He has to be calm for her.

"Pidge," is all he says, his eyes fixed on hers, staring straight into her mind, all full up with confusion and worry.

"I-" she starts. Then his gaze slowly travels to where she's still touching his shoulder and she becomes aware of herself again. "Uh, I-I'm gonna-"

She scrambles back, grabbing a towel from the rack and thrusting it in his general direction, keeping her eyes trained on the floor.

She doesn't look up again until she feels his hand gently touch her arm.

"Hey, thank you," he says, the words accompanied by a warm sensation of sincerity. "I'm sorry you had to... deal with that."

He sounds so calm now, but Pidge can still feel the panic fluttering in his chest. Fear, embarrassment, shame- He pulls his hand back.

"We can't go on like this," he says, firm and resolute. "Can you get the others together, tell them we'll meet at Hunk's?"

Pidge simply nods, rising to her feet and heading back to her laptop.

-

"Keith?"

Hunk stands outside the bathroom door, shuffling his feet anxiously. He doesn't dare knock. He feels like it would be too loud in the otherwise empty house. Outside he can hear the birds chirping as they go about their business in the quiet of the afternoon. All the neighbours are out at work or school.

"Keith, I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I promise I'm gonna fix this. I just... I need to know that you're OK? I mean, I know you- I just meant- You're not sick or anything as well? I know the cramps are bad, we can all feel them, but-"

The click of the lock silences him and he takes a step back. Slowly the door opens.

Keith is exhausted. The feeling hits Hunk like a cloud of steam coming off a pan of boiling water that he's just lifted the lid on. Keith looks pale and drawn, hunched over his arm where it's wrapped protectively around his middle. It's all Hunk can do to hold his tongue. He needs to give Keith space, let him speak.

"I'm OK," he says, though his voice wavers. "And I'm not mad at you. I just-" He winces, painfully sucking in air through his nose. Hunk reaches for him before he can think about it.

It hits him like an ocean wave: emotions, thoughts, pain. The pain is so much worse.

"Keith!" he cries in shock and concern. _Why is it so much worse for you?_

Keith braces himself against the doorframe as he struggles to keep his mental balance, the sudden weight of Hunk's panic along with the heaviness of the pain causing his consciousness to seesaw violently.

He didn't want it to be like this. This is the opposite of how he wanted Hunk to find out. But it's too late. Their thoughts merge and Hunk knows what he knows. That Keith is having a period of his own. That it caught him off-guard because he hasn't had one for years now. That his working theory is that, because they were connected when Pidge got hers, that somehow triggered his to start. 

"You-you're-" Hunk tries to speak. He wants to talk. They should talk about this. He needs to understand it. "Intersex?"

He feels Keith's relief, along with his surprise at feeling it.

"It's not that I didn't want to tell you," Keith says, trying to get the words out quick before things can get messed up. "I knew it wouldn't bother you. I just... I hate telling people. I've had to do it so many times in my life. I don't want to be reduced to some... textbook definition. I just-"

"-want to be."

For a long moment they gaze at one another. Then Hunk pulls him close, so close. Their emotions blend, Hunk's concern and guilt and remorse with Keith's frustration and anxiety and resignation. There's more information than either of them can really process, but it feels kind of good; quick, like ripping off a band-aid.

They pull back when they sense the others, waiting at the door. They both know already why they're here. 

-

There's a strange air of calm in Hunk's living room as the five of them take their seats on the rug as usual. Exhaustion has now overridden any anxiety they might've felt at sharing their thoughts, their emotions. They're ready.

Shiro's theory is that, because the woman interrupted them while Voltron was formed, they weren't able to disconnect properly from the spell. The disruption caused Voltron's form to break down, but the connection between the circle remained, stuck in an unfinished state.

Based on that, Pidge came up with the idea that, in order to disconnect, the five of them first need to repair the connection; to fully connect again like they did when they first cast the spell. They need to stop fighting it and allow themselves to come together.

And to get the strongest possible connection, they all know, they need to fall asleep together.

There are a succession of deep breaths taken around the circle as they join hands with one another: Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, Lance and finally Keith laying his left hand on Shiro's shoulder. They all close their eyes almost simultaneously, all feeling the same relief not to be fighting to keep them open any more.

Sleep swiftly washes over them and with it, the awkward mishmash of their thoughts crystallises into perfect, simple form. There is no ground, only an endless dark sky surrounding them, filled with an infinite number of pinprick stars. The five find themselves separately aware again, even as they remain within the same space of feeling, of being.

Shiro is barely visible, only the faintest wisps of water vapour rendering his form. Keith is flame, surging and writhing into a shape. Lance is liquid, endlessly swirling currents defining a body. Hunk is earth and stone, shifting grains and pebbles constructing a figure. Pidge is twisting vines and curling bark, countless flowers blossoming in the pattern of a person.

There are no words now; they're not needed. What one of them knows, the others also know. Their assumption was correct. They were interrupted, disrupted, their connection left unfinished. Now, someone says, it's time to let go, in their own time, of their own free will.

Shiro goes first. Pulling away from Keith and letting go of Pidge's hand, he vanishes completely from the others' view. Keith follows swiftly, releasing Lance's watery hand and at once disappearing. Pidge is next, taking her hand back from Hunk and fading from his vision. He thinks he sees Lance smile at him before he too lets go, leaving Hunk quite alone.

Alone and scared.

He looks down at the soil forming his hands, feeling panic rising inside himself. Why is he still here? There's no-one holding him now, so why didn't he disappear like the others? This is a shared space, he can't be here alone. Can he? He casts about for something, anything, but there's nothing but stars and endless, bottomless darkness.

No, wait. There _is_ something. A pink glow warming the darkness before him. He blinks reflexively, microscopic grains of sand falling from his eyes.

Out of the rosy dawn-light a figure is emerging, a woman with long, flowing hair as white as chalk. Hunk can't clearly make out her features, the glow behind her forcing them into shadow, but he thinks... he thinks he sees her smile.

He knows her, he realises, although he has never seen her before.

The lion goddess.

He tries to speak, but no words come to him.

Without words, without sound, she answers the questions that he can't voice. It's all right, she says. You can let go now.

Hunk closes his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) When I started writing this back in November 2016 my intention was just to 'have a go' at writing again after not writing anything for years. I've come a long way!


End file.
